Just talking to other people can stimulate different brain functions among socially isolated older adults, even when the interactions are internet-based, according to a new clinical trial out of Massachusetts General Hospital.

The results are published in The Gerontologist, a flagship journal of the Gerontological Society of America.

“We initiated the first proof of concept behavioral intervention study in 2010, nearly a decade prior to the COVID-19 pandemic drawing attention to the detrimental effects of social isolation on our overall health,” explained lead author Hiroko H. Dodge, the principal investigator of the National Institutes of Health–funded trials.

The 186-participant phase 2 randomized trial, called I-CONECT, used the internet and webcams to allow for conversational interactions between trained interviewers and socially isolated individuals aged 75 years and older who had normal cognition or mild cognitive impairment. Learn more at the link HERE!