Could a smaller social circle be the key to longevity?
Research shows that many animals, including humans, tend to withdraw as they age, a behavioral pattern known as social aging—and isolation appears to have an evolutionary advantage.
A new study from the University of Exeter’s Center for Research in Animal Behavior found that our closest primate relatives are less likely to get sick when they limit social interaction.
The research team analyzed a group of adult female Rhesus macaques to better understand the relationship between aging, sociability and disease. Using social network models, they measured “social centrality,” a total of social partners and time spent socializing.
They combined their data on social centrality with a simulation model for infectious diseases to determine whether reduced connectedness could reduce the risk of infection, particularly under conditions that mimicked age-related declines in immunity.
The researchers found that aged macaques with limited social interaction reduced their risk of catching an infectious disease from within the group, demonstrating a “protective effect” of aging.
Study co-author Erin Siracusa, a researcher at the University of Exeter’s Center for Animal Behavior Research, notes: “Our findings suggest a powerful reason why many animals, including humans, may reduce their social connections as they age. .”
Immunity weakens in the elderly, increasing the risk of contracting an infectious disease. However, the macaque study found that older macaques had lower rates of infection than their younger counterparts.
“This cost-benefit ratio can change over the lifespan of individuals, which can drive changes in social behavior,” says Siracusa. “Older individuals may be more susceptible to disease – but after accounting for this in our data, we found that older macaques suffered lower costs of infection than their younger counterparts.”
The study authors note that their results work on the assumption that the risk of infection increases with interaction time, but some infections only require a very brief interaction to spread.
The tendency to withdraw is reflected in the human population.
A 2022 survey of 2,000 Americans age 55 and older found that 75% of the aging population admitted that their social circle has shrunk as they’ve gotten older, and nearly half of respondents (48%) said they’ve stopped be friends with at least three people in the last two years.
While smaller social circles can prevent illness, isolation is associated with a host of health problems. The World Health Organization has declared loneliness an “urgent health threat”, with risks as deadly as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.
Studies have shown that being perpetually alone carries the risk of anxiety, depression, poor immune function, cardiovascular problems and even brain shrinkage.
Thus, limiting but not eliminating social interaction appears to be the sweet spot for survival.
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