Article Reaction: Effects of Social Integration on Memory Function

Memory loss is a blatant feature of aging that can substantially affect a person’s quality of life, mortality, and many other factors or risks associated with it. Strategies for prevention and treatment have been pursued over time, but few have been identified as effective ones. This being said, a variety of studies have been done that show how the social environment is a key feature that helps predict cognitive outcomes among the older population. Many have found that the rate of cognitive decline is reduced with high social engagement and social networks. Likewise, it has been found that the risk of dementia is increased with limited social networks. Elderly men and women are at a greater risk of decreased memory function when they have poor social integration or disengagement and have few social ties. In the article “Effects of Social Integration on Preserving Memory Function in a Nationally Representative US Elderly Population,” the authors examine the relationship between memory loss and social integration. The objectives of the study conducted were to test whether social integration is a good tool in protecting against memory loss or other cognitive disorders, whether the effects of the test were stronger among the economically and socially disadvantaged individuals, and whether earlier memory or cognitive losses helped to explain reverse causation. Through a longitudinal study, and using data from the Health and Retirement Study, they were able to examine whether social integration predicted memory change over 6 years. Immediate and delayed recall of a 10-word list is the test they used to measure memory. Social integration was determined by marital status, volunteer activity, and frequency of contact with children, parents, and neighbors. They studied and examined