Facebook Boosts Cognitive Function in Older Adults

It is not surprising to see so many people addicted to Facebook. Despite facing criticism on a range of issues, there are more than 500 million active users on the social networking site as it a great tool for widening one's network. Though there are risks associated with Facebook use, people find no reason to avoid it. It has been seen that Facebook is increasingly a pursuit for older people above 65 years of age.

A latest preliminary research finding from the University of Arizona suggests that Facebook helps in improving the mental abilities of older adults. Men and women above the age of 65 who learn to use Facebook notice a boost in cognitive functions.

The study, which was conducted by Janelle Wohltmann, a graduate student in the UA department of psychology, showed an association between the use of the social networking site and a boost in cognitive impairment.

In order to progress with her finding, she divided the participants into three groups, in which the first group consisting of 14 older adults were trained to use Facebook and were asked to post atleast once a day. They were asked to become friends only with those in their training group.

The second group consisted on 14 non-Facebook seniors who were trained to use an online diary site. In this, their entries were kept private and lacked a social sharing component. The participants were asked to write atleast one entry a day of no more than three to five sentences.

The third group of 14 older adults was considered as a control group and were told than they were on a waitlist for Facebook training.

Before joining Facebook, the participants underwent a test for social variables and cognitive ability. They were again assessed after eight weeks.

Wohltmann noticed that those who were trained to use Facebook performed 25 percent better than they did before the start of the study and participants in other groups didn't notice any significant change in their performance.

"Facebook is obviously a huge phenomenon in our culture," Wohltmann said in a press statement. "There's starting to be more research coming out about how younger adults use Facebook and online social networking, but we really don't know very much at all about older adults, and they actually are quite a large growing demographic on Facebook, so I think it's really important to do the research to find out."