Your memory works better if you have friends

Who has a friend has a treasure, but also a good memory. According to an investigation by Northwestern University in the USA, a strong social network slows down the cognitive decline and the loss of retentiveness that comes with completing years. Of course, according to the researchers that friendship has to be positive, warm and sincere so that the beneficial effect on the brain is really noticeable.

New research has concluded that those who have friends - but good ones - retain their memory in a better way than those who have worse social relationships.

The study is based on the so-called 'super-agers', that is to say people who, after having blown no less than 80 candles on their last birthday, enjoy cognitive skills comparable to those of any 50-year-old. As the authors explain in the magazine 'PLOS ONE', the new research indicates that the 'super-agers' enjoy qualitatively more satisfactory friendship relationships than other individuals who reach the eighties with impaired cognitive abilities.

Emily Rogalski, coordinator of the study, and her colleagues say that both factors are related. "It's not as simple as saying that if you have friends you will not be a victim of Alzheimer's," he explains. "But we can ensure that having good comrades in life should be on the list of cognitively healthy choices along with not smoking and eating certain healthy foods for the brain," he argues.

Previous analyzes performed with functional magnetic resonance reveal that in these individuals the cerebral cortex, the outermost layer of the forehead, rich in gray matter, is thicker than usual. Rogalski and his team do not rule out the existence of a direct biological relationship between the cultivation of friendship and the thickness of gray matter. To be more precise with the thickness of the anterior cingulate gyrus, a structure related to emotions, conflict management, decision making and memory.

It is not the first time that authentic friendship is linked to a healthier brain functioning. A few years ago, scientists at the University of Michigan have already concluded that a simple friendly conversation with a colleague is enough to improve our ability to solve problems.

In addition, according to the University of Oxford in the UK, the more friends you have, the greater the tolerance of your neurons to pain. At the end of the day, it should not be forgotten that addiction releases opioids in the brain with effects similar or even superior to those of morphine.