title: Your Way to a Better Theory of Mind: A Healthy Diet Relates to Better Faux Pas Recognition in Older Adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Aging is characterized by a well-documented worsening of general cognition, and also a decline in social understanding such as the ability to recognize emotions or detect socially inappropriate behavior (faux pas). Several studies have demonstrated that lifestyle factors (diet, exercise, social integration, smoking) tend to offset general cognitive decline, and we examined whether they also help to offset age-related declines in social cognition.
  
  
  METHODS
  There were 56 participants aged 60 years or over. General cognition was measured using a matrices task and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Emotion recognition was measured by the matching of faces to emotion sounds and bodies to sounds. Faux pas recognition was measured by 16 videos, examining participants' ability to differentiate appropriate and inappropriate social behavior. Diet, exercise, social integration, and smoking habits were measured via questionnaires.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For general cognition, diet, pr = .32, p < .02, smoking, pr = -.32, p = .02, and education, pr = .48, p < .001, explained unique variance in matrices performance. For social cognition, even after accounting for participants' education, age, exercise habits, smoking, and social integration, a healthy diet explained independent variance in the ability to identify appropriate social behavior, pr = .29, p = .04.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We replicated previous research in finding that lifestyle factors were related to fluid intelligence. In addition, we obtained the novel finding that a healthy diet is associated with better recognition of faux pas in older adults, likely acting through facilitation of brain health, and providing initial support for a means of enhancing social functioning and well-being in old age.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Otago , Dunedin , New Zealand.
authors.forename: Ted
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ruffman
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Otago , Dunedin , New Zealand.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Otago , Dunedin , New Zealand.
authors.forename: Mele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taumoepeau
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Otago , Dunedin , New Zealand.
authors.forename: Sheila
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Skeaff
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D000072001:Diet, Healthy; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012907:Smoking; D012919:Social Behavior; D012944:Social Support; D056345:Theory of Mind