Aging: Remaining Socially Active Aids Motor Skills
By ERIC NAGOURNEY

It is well known that older adults who remain socially engaged are more
likely to keep their intellectual skills sharper. But new research suggests
they may also be less likely to experience declines in motor skills like
strength, speed and dexterity.

Researchers who followed the health of about 900 people in retirement homes
and elsewhere found that those who had the most social activity experienced
the least decline in their motor skills. The report appears in The Archives
of Internal Medicine.

The researchers, led by Dr. Aron S. Buchman of the Rush University Medical
Center, examined each volunteer over a period of about five years.

They gave them a series of tests to assess their motor skills, looking at the
strength in their arms and legs and at their ability to walk and perform
other tasks. The volunteers were also asked to give information about their
social activities.