YOUR 2025 BRAIN BRAWN • MICRO RESOLUTIONS SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT

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Good morning and welcome to the second week of August’s brain brawn micro resolutions!
 
As a reminder, we are tackling a different lifestyle modification each week in August. Last Monday, we examined engaging with art and music as two non-pharmaceutical interventions known to positively influence certain symptoms in neurodegenerative conditions, including: behavioral symptoms (agitation), and psychological symptoms (depression and anxiety), memory, and socialization. And that last benefit, socialization, bridges the conversation to this week’s topic: social engagement.
 
Week 1: Music and Art Therapy
Week 2: Social Engagement
Week 3: Lifelong Learning
Week 4: Hearing Loss


Track Your Progress!
 
Track your micro resolution and continue on with all our past mini resolutions, too. Use our new log to to track your progress!
 
Questions? Email your Motivated Mondays Coach Michele at [email protected].
 
If you are new to Motivated Mondays, you can review the 2025 content here.


Combatting Social Isolation and Loneliness

Many of our micro resolutions are tied to group activities that can foster a sense of community. Examples include taking exercises classes, cooking and exploring art or music.

This week, we’re asking you to extend yourself to someone who may be lonely or isolated. We are fairly confident this selfless act will be just as beneficial for you as the person you’re helping!

Isolation is described as the objective reality of truly existing with a deficit of social bonds. Loneliness is described as the subjective experience where an individual may be surrounded by people but does not feel connected and supported. Unfortunately, the number of people socially disconnected has risen steadily since the pandemic.
 
Consider the people you know who may have recently lost a pet or spouse, a neighbor who lives alone, a quiet coworker, etc. Identify someone who may appreciate the gesture and invite that person for a walk or a cup of coffee, drop off a home-cooked meal and have a chat with them, invite them for a game of cards—or something else that piques your interest, and theirs.


On Social Isolation, Loneliness and Cognitive Decline

You may be asking why we are resolving to reach out to someone who may be isolated or lonely as a means to combat cognitive decline.
 
It’s not the cup of coffee or the home-cooked meal itself that will combat cognitive decline, per say, but the act of enjoying it with another person.


While the terms isolation and loneliness are not synonymous, both can have similarly harmful effects on mental and physical health. Each is associated with increased stress, depression, and anxiety, and these challenges are often compounded by unhealthy lifestyle choices such as smoking, physical inactivity, and poor sleep. In fact, feeling disconnected has been compared to the health risks of smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Research underscores the seriousness of these effects. A recent Johns Hopkins study found that socially isolated adults have a 27% higher risk of developing dementia. Similarly, an analysis of Framingham Study data revealed that participants under age 80 who lacked the APOE4 allele but identified as lonely had a threefold increased risk of developing dementia over a 10-year period.

As with many associations, the precise biological mechanisms remain unclear, but there are several biological indicators worth examining:
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• The immune system is impaired in those who are less socially connected.
• Inflammatory biomarkers are higher in those who are less socially connected.
• Abnormal brain structures have been noted in those who are less socially connected.

All these biological indicators are associated with cognitive decline and neurodegeneration. Interestingly, research now indicates this association may be bidirectional. Specifically, lack of social connections or community may drive cognitive decline, and vice versa (cognitive decline may also drive social isolation). As for the latter of the two, the thinking is that those facing cognitive decline may lack confidence in their social skills and thus wall themselves off.

That’s all for now. We’ll see you next week for our next micro resolution!