A new study suggests getting that cute dog in one's more mature years might be a good idea after all. 

Researchers from the Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China, found that pet ownership can be associated with slower rates of developing dementia. 

The study, published on Tuesday in JAMA Network Open, determined that owning a pet made a difference in verbal memory and fluency among adults who lived alone.

NEW STUDY SHOWS THE EFFECT OWNING PETS HAS ON OWNERS' BRAINS

The study's author, professor Ciyong Lu, said in the study that slower rates of declining verbal memory and fluency were seen in those who lived alone — but not in those who lived with others.

"Pet ownership offset the associations between living alone and declining rates [of] verbal memory and verbal fluency," he said. 

The research involved more than 7,900 participants over the age of 50, with roughly 35% of them owning pets and 27% of them living alone.

In the study, Lu said that those living alone with a pet showed slower rates of developing signs of dementia.

DOG OWNER GOOD NEWS: PETTING YOUR DOG MAY LEAD TO STRONGER MEMORY AND BETTER PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS

"These findings suggest that pet ownership may be associated with slower cognitive decline among older adults living alone," he said.

"Contrary to living alone," the authors also wrote, "pet ownership (for example, raising dogs and cats) is related to reduced loneliness, an important risk factor for dementia and cognitive decline."

Lu said that clinical trials will be necessary in order to confirm the study's findings.

Currently, more than 55 million people worldwide have dementia — with nearly 10 million new cases each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). 

EATING ONE POPULAR FRUIT COULD HELP REDUCE YOUR CHANCES OF DEVELOPING DEMENTIA, STUDY FINDS

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, which is currently the 7th leading cause of death, the WHO also notes. 

Early symptoms of dementia include forgetfulness, being confused, losing track of time, misjudging distances, feeling anxious, personality changes, inappropriate behavior and more.

There is currently no cure for dementia or for someone developing signs of dementia, but the WHO suggests that staying active and continuing to stimulate the brain may help.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Lu for further comment. 

For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle.

Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been making light of the harsh conditions he is experiencing in a Siberian penal colony.

Navalny, who has stood as the most significant opposition to President Vladimir Putin in recent years, posted an update on X via his lawyers about the IK-3 penal colony, also known as "Polar Wolf," in Kharp in northern Russia, which is considered one of the country's toughest prisons.

He was located at the prison by his lawyers on Christmas Day, nearly three weeks after his team lost contact with him after he failed to appear in court via video link for a hearing, kicking off a desperate search.

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"I am your new Santa Claus," Navalny wrote jokingly. "Well, I now have a sheepskin coat, an ushanka hat (a fur hat with ear-covering flaps), and soon I will get valenki (a traditional Russian winter footwear). 

"I have grown a beard for the 20 days of my transportation."

Russian authorities had previously held Navalny at a facility roughly 145 miles east of Moscow. Polar Wolf is situated above the Arctic Circle in the Yamalo-Nenets district, which is about 1,200 miles northeast of Moscow. It was founded in 1961, according to the Russian prison system, on the site of a former Soviet gulag forced labor camp. 

"Unfortunately, there are no reindeer, but there are huge fluffy, and very beautiful shepherd dogs," Navalny continued. "And the most important thing: I now live above the Arctic Circle."

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"The 20 days of my transportation were pretty exhausting, but I'm still in a good mood, as befits a Santa Claus."

After some joking around, Navalny shared more details about the difficult journey and thanked his followers for their support given they were concerned about his whereabouts.

"They brought me here on Saturday night. And I was transported with such precaution and on such a strange route… that I didn't expect anyone to find me here before mid-January."

He wrote that he saw guards with machine guns and dogs outside in the snow. 

"Anyway, don’t worry about me. I’m fine. I’m awfully glad I finally made it here," Navalny wrote.

Human rights defender Igor Kalyapin told The Moscow Times that conditions there are terrible.

"It is clear that this is detention in maximum isolation," Kalyapin told the publication. "I think that Navalny was sent so far precisely in order to ensure this maximum possible physical isolation, so even taking a trip there would be a problem."

Navalny has been imprisoned since returning to Russia in 2021, when authorities immediately arrested him and later sentenced him to 19 years in prison on extremism charges. His team has repeatedly raised concerns about his treatment following his return.

Navalny has previously organized anti-government demonstrations and has run for office to advocate for reforms against what he claims is corruption in Russia. He was the victim of an alleged assassination attempt in 2020, when he suffered poisoning from a suspected Novichok nerve agent. 

He remained in a coma for several weeks while doctors in Germany fought to keep him alive. He accused Putin of being responsible for his poisoning.

Ivan Zhadov, an aide to the opposition leader and head of his anti-corruption foundation, criticized the Russian government’s treatment of Navalny.

"Aleksei’s situation is a clear example of how the system treats political prisoners," Zhadov wrote in a post on X. 

Fox News Digital's Peter Aitken and Stephen Sorace, as well as The Associated Press contributed to this report.