New Study: Helping Others Slows Cognitive Decline by Up to 20%
Regularly volunteering or helping others outside the home can slow cognitive aging by 15–20%.
Meaningful social connections may do more than lift spirits, they may help preserve the mind. Researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Massachusetts Boston have discovered that spending regular time helping others outside the home can slow cognitive decline in middle-aged and older adults.
The study followed more than 30,000 U.S. adults over a 20-year period and found that those who volunteered or offered informal help to neighbors, relatives, or friends experienced 15%–20% less cognitive decline associated with aging. The benefit was strongest among individuals who spent around two to four hours each week assisting others. These findings, published in Social Science & Medicine, were supported by the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
“Everyday acts of support — whether organized or personal — can have lasting cognitive impact,” said Sae Hwang Han, an assistant professor of human development and family sciences at UT who led the study. “What stood out to me was that the cognitive benefits of helping others weren’t just short-term boosts but cumulative over time with sustained engagement, and these benefits were evident for both formal volunteering and informal helping. And in addition to that, moderate engagement of just two to four hours was consistently linked to robust benefits.”
This research is among the first to explore both formal volunteering and more casual acts of assistance, such as driving a neighbor to a medical appointment, babysitting grandchildren, mowing a lawn, or helping someone prepare taxes. While roughly one in three older Americans participates in formal volunteer programs, more than half routinely provide help to others in their lives through these informal efforts.
