You Can Improve - Physically and Cognitively - As You Age, Yale Study Shows

The most optimistic vision some of us have about aging is “staving off inevitable decline.”

But what if that’s wrong? What if “improving with age” really does apply not only to wine and cheese, but also to many people over 65?

New research has uncovered some intriguing data.

“Older individuals can and do improve over time, and their mindset toward aging plays a major part in their success,” according to a report on a recent study by scientists at Yale University.

In fact, almost half – 45% – of people 65 and older improved in either mental or physical funcions over a period of up to 12 years, that study concluded.

“About 32% improved cognitively, 28% improved physically, and many experienced gains that exceeded thresholds considered clinically meaningful,” the report said. Add in people who stayed the same instead of declining? Combined that was more than half.

“Many people equate aging with an inevitable and continuous loss of physical and cognitive abilities,” Dr. Becca R. Levy, lead author of this study, said in a Yale press release. In this latest study, “What we found is that improvement in later life is not rare, it’s common, and it should be included in our understanding of the aging process,” she said.

“If you average everyone together, you see decline. But when you look at individual trajectories, you uncover a very different story. A meaningful percentage of the older participants that we studied got better.”

Dr Levy also wrote the book Breaking the Age Code, which examined data showing how people view aging affects their physical health and longevity.

I’ve seen similar themes in books on healthy lifestyles and aging, such as Strong Women Stay Young (about physical improvements among older women who took up weight training) and Younger Next Year (the critical importance of daily exercise). It’s all pretty convincing. Nothing can guarantee a healthy, vibrant aging process. But there are things that improve the odds.

And it turns out that a positive outlook on aging may be another important part of a healthy lifestyle.

This study “hypothesized that an important factor [in physical and mental improvements vs declines] could be participants’ baseline age beliefs – or, specifically, whether they had assimilated more positive or more negative views about aging by the start of the study.”

And, you guessed it: “Those with more positive age beliefs were significantly more likely to show improvements in both cognition and walking speed,” even after factoring in things like age, education, chronic disease, depression, and a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. (I was somewhat surprised they didn’t include exercise, which seems like a key component of vibrant aging.)

Views on aging are somewhat intertwined with views of retirement. What do you think of when you hear the word “retiree”? Someone whose “productive” days are over, and they’re no longer making meaningful contributions to the larger world? That’s a somewhat negative attitude about aging, or at least an awful lot of older people.

Or, do you believe that many retirees are still active and engaged? Thrilled at all the extra time they’ve got to do things they’ve always wanted to? Enjoying a well-earned next stage of life, however they choose to spend it?

Attitudes can’t determine your physical and mental health as you get older. However, they can affect them. And they’re pretty certain to impact how you’ll experience retirement, as well as what challenges you think still make sense, given your physical and mental situation — even if you’re “older.” Taking up a new sport? Learning a new skill? Training for a road race?

Many of our limitations are real, and it would be foolish to ignore them. But others are imagined.

It’s important to know the difference.