A Yale University study using over a decade of data from a large study of older Americans found that nearly half of adults 65 and older improved in cognitive function, physical function, or both. The research challenges the common perception of aging as a continuous decline and highlights the positive trajectories of many older individuals. The research was published in the journal Geriatrics and relied on data from the Health and Retirement Study, a federally supported, long-running survey of older Americans.
Researchers tracked changes in cognition using global performance tests and measured physical function based on walking speed, which was seen as a “vital sign” because of its strong links to disability, hospitalization and mortality. Over a 12-year period, 45% of participants improved either mentally or physically. About 32% showed cognitive gains, while 28% improved physically. Lead author Becca Levy, a professor of social and behavioral sciences at Yale, stated: “In contrast to a predominant belief or stereotype that age is a time of continuous and inevitable decline, we found evidence that a meaningful number of older persons actually show improvement over 12 years in cognitive and/or physical health.”
Mindset Influence
A participant’s beliefs about aging appeared to influence the results significantly. Those with more positive age beliefs were significantly more likely to show improvements in both cognition and walking speed. This remained true even after accounting for factors such as age, sex, education, chronic disease, depression and the length of follow-up. Improvements were seen even among participants who started with “normal” levels of function, not just those recovering from injuries or illness.
According to Levy: “Individuals who have taken in more positive age beliefs … tend to have a lower stress response and lower stress biomarkers.” Because age beliefs are modifiable, there could be a capacity for improvements later in life. The study acknowledges limitations; it didn’t examine how muscles or brain cells change and adapt, which could help explain improvements. Future studies should examine improvement patterns for other types of cognition such as spatial memory and use additional cohorts with greater representation of different ethnic minority groups.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://us.headtopics.com/news/study-many-older-adults-show-cognitive-and-physical-80865484