Social participation and cognitive health in older adults:  A scoping review

Eduardo  Sandoval-Obando; Cristián  Barros-Osorio; Gerardo  Fuentes-Vilugrón; Luis  Castellanos-Alvarenga; Ronnie  Videla-Reyes; Miguel  Salazar-Muñoz; Walter  Sepulveda-Loyola

doi:10.12873/

Autores

Eduardo Sandoval-Obando Universidad Autónoma de Chile (Temuco, Chile) https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7471-6536
Cristián Barros-Osorio Universidad de Las Américas (Santiago, Chile)
Gerardo Fuentes-Vilugrón Universidad Autónoma de Chile (Temuco, Chile)
Luis Castellanos-Alvarenga Universidad Santo Tomás (Temuco, Chile)
Ronnie Videla-Reyes Universidad Santo Tomás (La Serena, Chile)
Miguel Salazar-Muñoz Universidad San Sebastián (Puerto Montt, Chile)
Walter Sepulveda-Loyola aculty of Health and Social Sciences, Universidad de Las Americas, Santiago, Chile

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12873/

Palavras-chave:

Social participation, Cognitive function, Healthy aging, Older adults, Neurocognitive resilience

Resumo

Objective: To synthesize evidence on the association between social participation and cognitive health in older adults.

Methods: A scoping review was conducted including 13 studies published between 2014 and 2025, with more than 100,000 participants from diverse cultural contexts. Studies examined cognitive domains, mechanisms, and outcomes related to social participation.

Results: Social participation was consistently associated with better cognitive performance, particularly in episodic memory, attention, executive function, and verbal fluency. Mechanistic pathways included stimulation of neuroplasticity, stress regulation via neuroendocrine modulation, enhancement of emotional regulation, and reinforcement of personal and group identity. Social participation also buffered against depressive symptoms, loneliness, and functional decline, and contributed to structural and functional brain preservation. Although most studies were observational, converging evidence indicates that social participation is a modifiable factor linked to reduced risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. Cross-cultural heterogeneity highlights the need for strategies tailored to cultural and contextual factors in aging populations.

Conclusion: Social participation should be considered an integral element of preventive and therapeutic approaches for cognitive health. Group-based interventions, including community programs, volunteering, cultural or religious activities, and intergenerational initiatives, show particular promise. Future longitudinal and multimodal research is needed to clarify causal mechanisms and guide the integration of social participation into evidence-based frameworks for healthy aging.

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