There are many changes that can come with old age—hair turns gray, eyesight isn't quite what it used to be, mobility often becomes limited. But beyond these physiological changes, people also experience changes to their social world. As we age, our social circles tend to get smaller.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Older monkeys still hang out, just with a smaller circle of intimates. Credit: Lauren Brent, CC BY-ND Such declines in social networks have raised concern among scientists who are aware of just how important social relationships are to health and well-being. Being socially isolated can harm health as much as obesity, alcoholism or sedentary living. In the past decade, however, scientists have started to think that the shrinking of social networks with age might not be all bad. Rather than social declines being driven exclusively by the death of friends or deteriorating health, people might become more selective in their social interactions as they age. After all, many older adults tend to focus their social effort on family and close friends. This change in social focus might result from older adults' being aware of the limited time they have left and prioritizing their most important relationships. As a behavioral ecologist and a molecular ecologist, we were interested in understanding the evolutionary roots of these age-based changes in social focus. To investigate whether other animals share these patterns of social selectivity with age, we turned to a free-roaming population of over 200 macaques on the island of Cayo Santiago in Puerto Rico. In collaboration with our colleagues, we collected eight years of data about how these monkeys interacted with one another as they got older. We found striking parallels to the patterns of social aging seen in humans, and our study sheds light on the causes and potential consequences of shrinking social networks with age. Picky partner…