Positive thinking can reverse seniors’ brain decline: study

Put down the Botox – embracing fine lines and gray hairs could be the key to staying sharp.

A new study suggests a link between happiness and health, as researchers say thinking positively about the aging process can slow cognitive decline in older adults.

Researchers from the Yale School of Public Health investigated recovery in older adults from mild cognitive impairment, finding that the people who held “positive age beliefs” were more likely to recover than those who didn’t. The condition can affect memory and thinking.

“This study is the first, to our knowledge, to consider whether a culture-based factor – positive age beliefs – contributes to MCI recovery,” wrote study authors Becca Levy and Martin Slade.

Published in the JAMA Open Network on Wednesday, the study used data from the Health and Retirement Study, a national survey, tracking participants 65 and older who underwent examination for MCI and positive age beliefs.

The more than 17,000 participants were given prompts such as “The older I get, the more useless I feel,” and were asked if they agreed or disagreed to determine their attitudes toward aging.

As expected, those who maintained positive age beliefs were more than 30% more likely to recover from MCI — and recover more quickly — than those who held negative age beliefs, regardless of the initial impaired cognition severity.

In fact, those who had more positive thoughts about the aging process had “lower MCI presence” and were less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment over 12 years.

“Most people assume there is no recovery from mild cognitive impairment, but in fact half of those who have it do recover,” Levy told the Daily Mail. “Little is known about why some recover while others don’t. That’s why we looked at positive age beliefs, to see if they would help provide an answer.”

The study authors suggested that “age-belief interventions at individual and societal levels” could encourage more people to think positively about aging and, therefore, reverse cognitive decline later in life.

Past studies have suggested that such impairment could be avoided with simple, daily exercises, while other research found that ultra-processed food and early retirement could contribute to it.

The Yale research follows the remarks of A-listers who have foregone youthful elixirs and embraced aging instead. Actress Justine Bateman said she looks “rad” with an older face, while fellow star Andie MacDowell agreed and other women followed suit.