Active Social Life = Active Memory

Geezer is among the first to agree that age 50 is not old, but it is apparently old enough to qualify for a study of memory loss conducted by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health. Researchers at that colony of the World’s Greatest University looked at data from 1998 to 2004 from the Health and Retirement
Study, a large, nationally representative population of U.S. adults 50 years
and older. Memory was assessed in 1998, 2000,
2002 and 2004 by reading a list of ten common nouns to survey respondents, then
asking them to recall as many words as possible immediately and after a
five-minute delay. Social integration was assessed by marital status, volunteer
activities, and contact with parents, children and neighbors. When the dust cleared, the Harvard researchers found that people in the U.S. who have an active social life
may have a slower rate of memory decline. Read more from HSPH before you forget.