Friendship is a great investment for brain and body.  It also helps lift spirits. 

Here are five great things socializing does for your brain:

1. Lowers blood pressure and inflammation, and thus heart disease and risk of stroke and other brain damage.

2. Improves immune system functioning, lowering risks from disease that could impact your brain.

3. Helps you take better care of your health, for the ones you care about if not for yourself.

4. Lowers or delays risk of memory loss or Alzheimer’s disease by keeping your brain active.

5. Relieves pain: Just holding hands with someone you care about lowers pain perception.

See also: Having a Friend is Just What the Doctor Ordered

Source:  The Scientific American Healthy Aging Brain by Judith Horstman, with permission from John Wiley & Sons and Scientific American.