Could a small social circle be the key to longevity?
Research shows that many Animals, including humans, begin to regress as they age.A behavioral pattern known as social aging – and appears to be an evolutionary advantage of isolation.
A new study from the University of Exeter’s Center for Research in Animal Behavior found that our closest primate relatives were less likely to get sick when they limited social contact.
The research team analyzed a group of adult female rhesus macaques to better understand the relationship between aging, sociality, and disease. Using social network models, they measured “social centrality”, the sum of total social partners and time spent socializing.
They combined their data on social centrality with a simulation model for infectious disease to determine whether reduced connectivity could reduce the risk of infection, particularly in conditions that mimic age-related declines in immunity. Do it.
The researchers found that older macaques with limited social contact had a reduced risk of catching an infectious disease within the group, demonstrating a “protective effect” of aging.
Study co-author Erin Siracusa, a researcher at the University of Exeter’s Center for Research in Animal Behaviour, says, “Our findings provide a powerful reason why many animals, including humans, may reduce their social interactions as they age. Are.”
Older adults have weakened immunity, which increases the risk of infectious diseases. Nevertheless, the macaque study showed that older macaques had lower infection rates than their younger counterparts.
“This cost-benefit ratio can change over the lifetime of individuals, which can lead to changes in social behavior,” says Siracusa. “Older individuals may be more susceptible to diseases – but once we accounted for this in our data, we found that older macaques faced a lower cost of infection than their younger counterparts.”
The study authors note that their results work on the assumption that the risk of infection increases with interaction time, but some infections require only very brief interactions to spread.
The retreating trend is reflected in human populations.
A 2022 survey of 2,000 Americans aged 55 and over And the elders found that 75% of the aging population admitted that their social circle has shrunk as they have aged, and almost half of the respondents (48%) shared that they have known at least three people in the past two years. Have stopped being friends with. ,
While smaller social circles may prevent disease, isolation is linked to myriad health problems. World Health Organization announced loneliness A “significant health threat”, with as much fatal risk as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.
studies have shown Being alone all the time leads to anxiety, depression, poor immune system. heart problemsAnd even brain shrinkage.
Thus, limiting but not eliminating social interaction appears to be the best place for survival.
