<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><div><h1>You Can Still Improve as You Age—With the Right Mindset</h1><p>New research is challenging traditional assumptions of aging</p></div><div><div><div><div><span></span><span>By </span><span><a href="https://nautil.us/author/jake-currie" target="_blank">Jake Currie</a>    </span><span>March 11, 2026</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div>Getting older comes with the inevitable deterioration of our minds and bodies, right? </div></div></div></div>Not according to newly <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3417/11/2/28" target="_blank">published</a> research in <i>Geriatrics</i>
 that’s challenging traditional assumptions about the aging process. 
Instead, we’re capable of showing some improvements throughout our 
twilight years—all it takes is the right mindset. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><<a href="https://nautil.us/you-can-still-improve-as-you-age-with-the-right-mindset-1278841" target="_blank">https://nautil.us/you-can-still-improve-as-you-age-with-the-right-mindset-1278841</a>></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">Quote:</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><p>Researchers led by Becca R. Levy of Yale University followed more 
than 11,000 participants in the longitudinal Health and Retirement 
Study, which monitors the health of older Americans. The team tracked 
cognitive function, using a global performance assessment, and physical 
function, using walking speed as a metric. They found that over a 
12-year follow-up period 45% of people improved in at least one of these
 areas—32% improved cognitively and 28% improved physically.</p><p>“What’s striking is that these gains disappear when you only look at averages,” Levy said in a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://ysph.yale.edu/news-article/yale-study-challenges-notion-that-aging-means-decline-finds-many-older-adults-improve-over-time/" target="_blank">statement</a>.
 “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.”</p><p>So what separated these lucky few from the rest? </p><p>According to 
the researchers, part of the difference was all in their heads. 
Participants who possessed more positive age beliefs were significantly 
more likely to see their cognition and physical condition improve. </p>-----------------------------------------------</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">Interesting.     You've got to think positive thoughts!</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">BillK</div></div>
</div>