Research conducted in retirement living facilities in both Somerset and Cornwall led psychologists to discover that touching on memories from school or WWII could improve the memory score of seniors by up to 12 percent, according to the Guardian.
"They were more than happy to bring up the war," Catherine Haslam told the paper.
Haslam is a neuropsychologist at Exeter who led the study, which involved 73 older persons. "We can't say this [reminiscing] reverses dementia, but it helps people make the most of what they've got."
Dementia isn't a disease, but rather a group of symptoms that can damage a person's ability to be social or respond to intellectual stimulation, according to the Mayo Clinic. There are different kinds of dementia and Alzheimer's disease is the most common.
Participants were asked either to play a board game, speak with a researcher about their past or discuss their memories in a group of their peers. Those who reminisced together showed the most improvement. Those who shared with a researcher didn't improve at all.
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