Self-esteem rises steadily as people age but starts declining around the time of retirement, according to a longitudinal study of men and women ranging in age from 25 to 104.
“Self-esteem is related to better health, less criminal behavior, lower levels of depression and, overall, greater success in life,” said the study’s lead author, Ulrich Orth, PhD. “Therefore, it’s important to learn more about how the average person’s self-esteem changes over time.” [continue reading…]
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Put on a happy face – and you may live to be 103. Researchers at Wayne State University examining a database of baseball players found that people who smile in photographs live longer than those who don’t. This is the first study to find a link between smile intensity and a biological outcome. [continue reading…]
Worldwide, the number of old people is increasing rapidly, so finding ways to keep age-related diseases at bay is an urgent task. Owing to a growing understanding of the processes that underlie ageing, there is hope that, at some time in the future, elderly people will be kept healthy by suppressing the ageing process itself.
This podcast from Nature includes:
Longevity biology
Certain genes and pathways are crucial to the ageing process, and can extend life when tweaked
Our ageing society
The world’s population is ageing – but with what effect on our lifestyles?
Affording an older population
How the UK government is balancing the old books
Ageing in the brain
What’s the difference between normal ageing and disorders of ageing? How does the brain regulate ageing in the body?
Source: Nature
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Despite the aches and pains that occur in old age, many older adults maintain a positive outlook, remembering the positive experiences from their past. A new study, reported in the April 2010 issue of Elsevier’s Cortex (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/cortex), reveals that older adults’ ability to remember the past through a positive lens is linked to the way in which the brain processes emotional content. In the older adult brain, there are strong connections between those regions that process emotions and those known to be important for successful formation of memories, particularly when processing positive information. [continue reading…]
