10/30/2014 – A Workout for the Mind

Older people with more positive views of aging do better on memory tests. They have better handwriting. They can walk faster. They’re more likely to recover fully from severe disability. Those with more positive self-perceptions of aging actually live longer, by an average of 7.5 years. (Other kinds of stereotypes, about race and gender, have also been found to influence behavior.)

But can you help older people to acquire those positive views? In their latest study, Dr. Levy and her colleagues tried to strengthen positive age stereotypes and make them last, and then see what effect they had on physical strength.

Read the full article at The New York Times.