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Yes, when you’ve had rough time, it is good to talk to someone. We all know that. Sometimes it is just letting off steam, sometimes we may need deeper social support or comfort. But is this feeling of comfort and ability to release one’s feelings actually beneficial to the brain? Generally it would be because positive feelings are associated with positive chemicals in the brain and body which has a host of positive knock-on effects.
Well, this is what a group of researchers at NYU Langone Health and NYU Grossman School of Medicine wanted to find out.
Researchers used a long-running and closely monitored community-based cohort, the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), for their 2,171 participants (average age of 63). Participants self-reported information on the availability of all sorts of social interactions including listening, good advice, love and affection. Their cognitive resilience could be assessed by data from MRI scans and neuropsychological assessments that have been conducted over the years as part of the FHS study.
