Alarcón-Jiménez, Juan JoséNielsen-Rodríguez, AdrianaRomance, RamónGómez-Huelgas, RicardoBernal-López, M. Rosa2022-03-212022-03-212020-06-08Alarcón-Jiménez JJ, Nielsen-Rodríguez A, Romance R, Gómez-Huelgas R, Bernal-López MR. Physical Activity and Social Cognition in the Elderly. Sustainability. 2020 Jun 8;12(11):4687.http://hdl.handle.net/10668/3479Social cognition is related to the so-called “Theory of the mind” and refers to the ability to understand the behavior of other people. It plays a transcendental role in the social relations cohesion. Knowing whether normal aging is associated with deficiencies in social understanding is a problem in characterizing the changes that occur in adulthood. The aim of this study was to examine whether the social cognition of the elderly is mediated by factors such as working memory, physical activity, body composition, or age, in elderly people. Sixty volunteers (mean age, 71.50 ± 4.84 years) were recruited from various locations in Malaga. Recognition of emotional expression, working memory, body composition, and physical activity were evaluated. Our results show that performance in emotion recognition is not affected by age in the range studied. Furthermore, we have not found a relationship with any of the body composition parameters. However, a significant relationship with performance in working memory has been revealed, as well as a significant relationship between vigorous/very vigorous physical activity and working memory. Therefore, physical activity could be positively related to the recognition of emotions by positively influencing working memory.12 p.enAtribución 4.0 Internacionalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Theory of MindSocial intelligenceExerciseBody compositionWorking memoryOlder adultsTeoría de la menteInteligencia emocionalEjercicio físicoComposición corporalMemoria a corto plazoAnciano frágilMedical Subject Headings::Psychiatry and Psychology::Psychological Phenomena and Processes::Mental Processes::Theory of MindMedical Subject Headings::Psychiatry and Psychology::Psychological Phenomena and Processes::Psychological Theory::Theory of MindMedical Subject Headings::Psychiatry and Psychology::Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms::Personality::Intelligence::Emotional IntelligenceMedical Subject Headings::Anthropology, Education, Sociology and Social Phenomena::Human Activities::ExerciseMedical Subject Headings::Phenomena and Processes::Metabolic Phenomena::Body CompositionMedical Subject Headings::Psychiatry and Psychology::Psychological Phenomena and Processes::Mental Processes::Learning::Memory::Memory, Short-TermMedical Subject Headings::Persons::Persons::Age Groups::Adult::Aged::Frail ElderlyMedical Subject Headings::Persons::Persons::Age Groups::Adult::AgedMedical Subject Headings::Persons::Persons::Age Groups::AdultMedical Subject Headings::Phenomena and Processes::Physiological Phenomena::Physiological Processes::Growth and Development::AgingMedical Subject Headings::Psychiatry and Psychology::Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms::Emotionsreview articleopen access10.3390/su121146872071-1050