Successful Aging: A Neuroscientist Explores the Power and Potential of Our Lives

by Daniel J. Levitin

The third most important factor is social interaction. Interacting with others is among the most complex things we can do with our brains. It could be through playing music with them, playing bridge or golf, acting in community theater, reminiscing, or discussing literature in a book group. Nearly every part of our brains is activated by interacting with others, live, face-to-face, in real time. (Sorry, Skype.) Doing so requires us to read their body language, the emotions in their faces, and the contours of their speech. We have to follow along with what they’re saying and try to figure out a way that we can contribute to the conversation without derailing it. In conversation, we need to employ empathy, compassion, logic, and turn taking—all relatively advanced cognitive operations. Isolation and lack of connectedness are strong predictors of disease and mortality. A study from the Karolinska Institute showed that people with strong social networks were 60 percent less likely to develop dementia. “Your brain was built for the very purpose of social engagement,” notes