A large British study suggests that living with others, whether another person, or even a pet, may slow down the decline in cognitive skills that tends to come as people age.
Cognitive decline in older adults is a major public health issue, with almost 10% of U.S. adults ages 65 and older estimated to have dementia, and 32% estimated to have some degree of cognitive impairment. Previous research has shown that living alone and social isolation are associated with an increased risk of cognitive decline with age.
“Research indicates that having long-term, high-quality relationships, whether that’s with family, friends, or romantic relationships, is not only important for happiness, but for promoting good brain health and reducing the risk for dementia,” said Dr. Leah Croll, assistant professor of neurology at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.__
Meanwhile me when I started living alone with only a dog and no human contact for years:
Started making animal noises.
For context I was INCREDIBLY isolated living basically in the woods with my dog . It’s a weird thing I noticed. I communicate with my dog using only basic sounds so me hissing would be the equivalent of “Bug off for now”. I realised it is a problem when I had to restrain the urge to hiss at a human.
I managed to unlearn these things in the past two years but it certainly shows that having only animal contact can cause other kinds of mental decline.
Bro you learned a whole new language. How is that mental decline? I don’t know anyone who speaks dog. It’s honestly impressive.
Yeah please teach me how to speak dog.
