social-interactions

Large neuroimaging study finds social isolation to be an early indicator of increased dementia risk

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Why do we get a buzz from being in large groups at fes­ti­vals, jubilees and oth­er pub­lic events? Accord­ing to the social brain hypoth­e­sis, it’s because the human brain specif­i­cal­ly evolved to sup­port social inter­ac­tions. Stud­ies have shown that belong­ing to a group can lead to improved well­be­ing and increased sat­is­fac­tion with life.

Unfor­tu­nate­ly though, many peo­ple are lone­ly or social­ly iso­lat­ed. [Read more…] about Large neu­roimag­ing study finds social iso­la­tion to be an ear­ly indi­ca­tor of increased demen­tia risk

More Friends, Bigger Brain

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Editor’s Note: We are pleased to bring you this arti­cle by Sian Beilock, thanks to our col­lab­o­ra­tion with the Greater Good Mag­a­zine. (Pic by Leigh Wells)

Ever won­der why some peo­ple have more friends than oth­ers? Why some run in large and com­plex social cir­cles while oth­ers have a small group of acquain­tances? There are no doubt a vari­ety of fac­tors that influ­ence the extent of our social net­works. New research shows, how­ev­er, that one fac­tor we may not have con­sid­ered before is right inside our head.

In a paper pub­lished recent­ly in Nature Neu­ro­science, researchers showed that the num­ber of friends we have could be pre­dict­ed by the size of our amygdala—a small, almond-shaped region locat­ed deep inside our brains. [Read more…] about More Friends, Big­ger Brain

Why Maintaining Stimulating Relationships is Good for You

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Edi­tor Note: One of the main pil­lars of brain fit­ness is to devel­op and main­tain stim­u­lat­ing social rela­tion­ships. This arti­cle describes a recent social psy­chol­o­gy study that sheds some light on what good you can get from such relationships.
A great post by Matthew Brim that we are pleased to bring you thanks to our col­lab­o­ra­tion with The Greater Good Magazine.
(Photo: Tatiana Gladskikh)
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.Why Other People’s Good News Could Be Good for You

How often does this hap­pen to you: You come home ecsta­t­ic about some great news—a job pro­mo­tion, a vic­to­ri­ous ten­nis match, or maybe just the lat­est Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavor—and you imme­di­ate­ly relate the expe­ri­ence [Read more…] about Why Main­tain­ing Stim­u­lat­ing Rela­tion­ships is Good for You

Yes, It is Smart to Learn New Tricks

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Good arti­cle in the Wash­ing­ton Post today: 

Is It Real­ly Smart to Teach Old Brains New Tricks?

The reporter presents a good overview of what is happening, but framed around a high­ly arti­fi­cial choice for con­sumers: either you a) do phys­i­cal exer­cise, or b) take part in social inter­ac­tions, or c) engage in men­tal exercise.

What about switch­ing off those TVs and hav­ing time for all a, b, c, and more? Research does not sup­port a “gen­er­al solu­tion” to cog­ni­tive health but a mul­ti-pronged one, fea­tur­ing a good nutri­tion, stress man­age­ment, and both phys­i­cal and men­tal exer­cise. Each indi­vid­ual presents dif­fer­ent con­texts and pri­or­i­ties: for exam­ple, [Read more…] about Yes, It is Smart to Learn New Tricks