Brain scans revealed people's subjective age–or how old they felt–rather than their real age, was linked to brain aging. Elderly people who felt younger than their age, showed fewer signs of brain aging, compared to those who felt their age or felt older than their age. Those are the results of a study published online in the open-access journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.
Brain scans revealed people's subjective age–or how old they felt–rather than their real age, was linked to brain aging. Elderly people who felt younger than their age, showed fewer signs of brain aging, compared to those who felt their age or felt older than their age. Those are the results of a study published online in the open-access journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.
People perceive and experience age differently. An individual's subjective age refers to how they see themselves in relation to their actual age—either younger or older. In previous studies, subjective aging has been associated with various late-life health outcomes, including physical health, self-rated health, life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, cognitive decline, dementia, hospitalization, and frailty.
Cognitive skills change throughout life as a result of the normal aging process. As certain regions of the brain shrink, memory and learning are affected. Communication between nerve cells declines, blood flow decreases, and inflammation after an injury or disease increases. These changes can affect cognitive function, even in healthy elderly people.
Chronological age is considered to correlate with mechanisms involved in cognitive changes later in life, but researchers at the Seoul National University in Korea suggest subjective aging could potentially influence the differences seen among individuals in the brain aging process.
To investigate the link between subjective age and brain aging, the researchers recruited 68 healthy people aged 59 to 84 and performed MRI brain scans and used age-prediction modeling techniques to examine changes in gray matter volume—a sign of brain aging—in different regions of the brain.
Participants completed a survey that asked them if they felt younger, older, or just as old as their real age as well as questions about their cognitive abilities and perceptions of their overall health.
Researchers conducted episodic and working memory tests to assess participants' cognitive functions.
MRI scans revealed participants who felt younger than their real age had a higher volume of gray matter in the inferior frontal gyrus, a part of the brain critical for impulse control, and the superior temporal gyrus, which is responsible for hearing and processing sound, and plays a role in both verbal and non-verbal communication.
Moreover, those who felt younger were more likely to score higher on a memory test, considered their health to be better, and were less likely to report depressive symptoms, the researchers reported.
By contrast, those who felt older than their actual age had poorer cognitive function and exhibited greater depressive symptoms.
Feeling younger, the researchers wrote, was especially associated with younger structural characteristics of the brain.
It remains unclear what the mechanisms are behind this link, but the researchers hypothesize people who feel younger are more likely to lead a more physically and mentally active life, which could translate to brain health benefits.
Those who feel older may want to reevaluate their lifestyle habits and activities that may contribute to brain aging, the researchers suggested.