Overview
- Published in September 2026, the Wake Forest–led analysis used HABS‑HD data from 3,873 adults aged 50 and older and tracked attention, memory, language and executive function across repeated visits.
- Participants who reported higher perceived social support at baseline experienced smaller declines in attention over time regardless of sex or race.
- Higher baseline chronic stress was associated with larger, domain-specific declines: women with high stress showed faster losses in attention and language, and Hispanic participants with high stress showed faster memory decline.
- The study found social support and chronic stress acted independently, meaning having strong social ties did not erase the cognitive effects linked to chronic stress.
- Because the research is observational and used baseline self‑reports, the authors call for intervention trials and mechanistic studies to test whether reducing stress or boosting support can preserve cognition.