Inc. Magazine
Neuroscientists have found that staying socially active can significantly delay the onset of dementia. Spending time with friends and engaging in regular social interactions helps maintain brain health. The 5-3-1 rule—interacting with five different people weekly, nurturing three close relationships, and socializing for an hour daily—can keep your brain sharp as you age.
Neuroscientists Discovered Social Contact Keeps Your Brain Sharp as You Age. Use the 5-3-1 Rule to Make Sure You’re Getting Enough
Author: Jessica Stillman
It’s a myth that entrepreneurship is a young person’s game. The average age of a successful tech founder is actually 47, and the list of entrepreneurs who started iconic companies in their 40s, 50s, and 60s is long. Age brings its own set of advantages to entrepreneurship, including experience and connections.
But in order to utilize those advantages to their fullest, you need to keep your brain sharp. How do you do that? Neuroscientists recently offered a little known and totally fun suggestion — spend more time hanging out with your friends.
The factor for healthy brain aging you don’t know about
Most of us have heard the usual advice on how to keep your brain sharp already. We all know we’re supposed to eat healthy (the Mediterranean diet seems particularly good for your brain), exercise regularly, and stay mentally active. These are all essential tips. But what often gets squeezed out when we’re busy fitting in some cardio, chopping kale, and keeping our companies afloat is our social lives.
A neuroscience study recently published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association underlines why that might be a mistake. The team out of Rush University tracked nearly 2,000 older adults with no initial cognitive impairment for five years, noting down details of their lifestyles and also who began to develop signs of dementia over the course of the study.
Aware of previous research on the role of lifestyle factors like diet and exercise in brain aging, the researchers controlled for these factors. One big difference between the seniors whose brains stayed sharp and those who started to show signs of cognitive decline still stood out.
How to stave off dementia by 5 years
“In this study, we show that social activity is associated with a decreased risk of developing dementia and mild cognitive impairment, and that the least socially active older adults developed dementia an average of five years before the most socially active,” said study co-author Bryan James.
Those participants who frequently went out for cultural events, group meals, or just simple hangouts with friends reduced their chances of developing dementia by 38 percent and their risk of developing more mild forms of cognitive impairment by 21 percent compared to the least socially active.
Why this should be so isn’t entirely clear yet, but the scientists speculate it may be that socializing acts like exercise for your brain, helping to maintain its complex neural circuitry. It’s “a case of ‘use it or lose it,’” said James.
Other research on keeping your brain sharp
It’s never a good idea to take a single scientific study as the gospel truth. Science proceeds when different researchers argue and check each other. But there is plenty of previous research that suggests this particular finding might be worth paying attention to.
Multiple studies have shown loneliness is horrible for our physical and mental health. One study found just eight hours alone has the same impact on your energy levels and mood as not eating for eight hours. Another claims chronic loneliness is as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
It stands to reason that if loneliness is bad for you, seeing people more should be beneficial. Which is just what an equally large body of literature says about the connection between warm loving relationships, socializing, and healthy aging.
“The factors many people think are most important for aging well — such as having longevity in your family or lack of physical illnesses — do not guarantee a positive experience with getting older,” writes Mayo Clinic geriatrician Amit Shah in an article laying out this science. “It’s the quality, duration and nature of your relationships that seem to matter most.”
Keep your ears open for more research that may advance or update this new study, but in the meantime entrepreneurs and anyone else who wants to keep their brain sharp as they age have good reason to pay attention to the findings.
Follow the 5-3-1 to keep your brain sharp as you age
Which raises the obvious question: What should I actually change in my own life based on the results? The obvious answer is to prioritize getting out and seeing people more (yes, even if work is insanely busy). But if you’re looking for a more precise prescription, let me point you to the 5-3-1 rule.
Developed by Harvard-trained social scientist and author Kasley Killam, the rule is a handy guide to how much social connection you need to maintain your health and mental acuity. Killam says we all should aim to,
- Spend time with five different people a week. This could be your gym buddy, book club bestie, or the person the next pew over at your church.
- Nurture three close relationships. Try to maintain at least three very tight relationships with family and dear friends.
- Engage in one hour of social interaction a day. It could be 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there, and socializing while doing other things like exercising or running errands is fine. But be physically in the presence of other human beings for at least an hour each day.
All evidence suggests that if you follow this rule, you won’t just be happier and healthier in the short-term. But you’ll also set yourself up to stave off dementia and keep your brain sharp as you age.
Credits: TCA, LLC.