Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42583866›Full record

ArticleAlzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association2026

Social engagement and brain structure-informed cognitive domain trajectories in older adults: The National Health and Aging Trends Study.

Cynthia Felix, Mary Louise Pomeroy, Tyler Bell, Felix Joy Kollasserry, Jeanine M Parisi, Steven M Albert, Thomas Cudjoe

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
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0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Cynthia FelixDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4283-4498
Mary Louise PomeroyDepartment of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Tyler BellDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, USA.
Felix Joy KollasserrySchool of Computing and Information, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Jeanine M ParisiDepartment of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Steven M AlbertPitt Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Thomas CudjoeDivision of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2590-209X

Funding

VARIABILITY, STABILITY & SMOOTHNESS OF WALKINGP30AG024827 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI JENNIFER S BRACH · 2004 to 2026
$28.6M
EPIDEMIOLOGY AND BIOSTATISTICS OF AGINGT32AG000247 · NIA · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI Karen J. Bandeen-Roche · 1996 to 2026
$13.2M
Identifying and Addressing Social Isolation among Older Adults Living in Subsidized HousingK23AG075191 · NIA · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI Thomas Kofi Mensah Cudjoe · 2022 to 2026
$992k
NIA NIH HHS K23 AG075191NIA NIH HHS P30 AG024827NIA NIH HHS T32 AG000247NIA NIH HHS T32AG000247NIH HHS K23AG075191NIH HHS P30 AG024827
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionCognitive decline may emerge in specific domains before overt dementia, yet domain-specific cognitive benefits of social engagement remain unclear.

methodsUsing National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) data (2011-2019) from 6,084 community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries, including the oldest-old, we study associations between our social engagement index founded on neural correlates of social cognition and longitudinal memory, orientation and executive function trajectories.

resultsBaseline social engagement index was 5.04 (SD: 1.90). Cognitive performance decreased as a function of time. Higher baseline social engagement was associated with attenuation of aging effects in memory (β = 0.14; p < 0.001), orientation (β = 0.14; p < 0.001), and executive function (β = 0.05; p < 0.001) after 8 years. Higher quartiles of social engagement, indicating broader endorsement of multiple activities, provided incrementally greater cognitive benefits in all domains. DISCUSSION: Higher baseline social engagement among community-dwelling older adults shows incremental and sustained benefits in memory, orientation and executive functions.

Indexed as

AgingBrainCognitionCognitive DysfunctionSocial CognitionSocial ParticipationAgedAged, 80 and overExecutive FunctionFemaleHumansIndependent LivingLongitudinal StudiesMaleMemoryNeuropsychological Testscognitiondementiaexecutive functionfrontotemporalmemoryneuroimagingNHATSolder adultsorientation

Identifiers

PMID42583866
PMCPMC13463419

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.