New research from Imperial College London has highlighted an interesting aspect of social behavior of sparrowsshowing how their interactions tend to decrease with advancing age. The study, conducted on an isolated population of sparrows on Lundy Island, reveals that, as with humans, older birds tend to maintain fewer social connections compared to younger specimens.
According to the researchers, this decline in sociability could be linked to evolutionary factors: once the reproductive age has passed, maintaining extensive social networks, which are instead fundamental for young adults to survive and reproduce successfully.
Dr. Julia Schroeder, leader of the study, highlighted that similar mechanisms could also influence human behavior in old agehelping to explain the phenomenon of loneliness in the elderly.
In humans, in fact, it is common to observe that people tend to reduce their social networks as they age, a dynamic that could depend both on a selection of relationships based on more selective criteria, both on one less availability of peers.
By understanding these dynamics, interventions could be developed to reduce loneliness in older people
Lundy Island sparrows, being a “closed” population without the possibility of contact with external birds, offer an ideal context for studying social networks without external variables. For over 25 yearsthe researchers monitored the birds’ behavior, social connections and reproductive successes in detail.
While for young sparrows having a good social network is a result essential for reproductive successfor older adults there appears to be no cost from reducing social interactions. In this context, one could hypothesize that evolution does not favor investment in new relationships social when advanced age has already reduced reproductive possibilities.
Dr Jamie Dunning, co-author of the study, suggests that the reduction in social interactions could for older birds. This study could also offer insights for understanding loneliness among elderly humans and for promoting policies aimed at encouraging social interactions in the later stages of life.
Better understanding these social dynamics, both in birds and humans, could help develop interventions for reduce loneliness in older people. Creating opportunities for social interaction can in fact represent a key element for well-being and quality of life in old age.
