Study Shows How Social Support May Protect Brain During Stroke

Researchers at Ohio State University found that male mice that lived with a female partner before and after a stroke had a much higher survival rate compared to those mice that lived alone.

In addition, the paired mice suffered much less brain damage than did the surviving solitary mice.

All of the mice that lived with another mouse survived seven days after the stroke – but only 40 percent of socially isolated animals lived that long.

The amount of tissue damage in the brain was about four times larger in the mice housed alone compared to those housed with another mouse.

“The number of neurons dying is significantly decreased in the pair-housed mice,” DeVries said.

In addition, socially housed mice had significantly less edema, or excess water in the brain, when compared to the isolated animals.