You really are as young as you feel

The saying “you are as young as you feel” turns out to be true.

A 2018 South Korean study found that people who feel they are younger than their chronological age have healthier brains!

The research was conducted by Seoul National University psychologists Seyul Kwak, Hairin Kim and Jeanyung Chey, and Yongsei University sociologist Yoosik Youm. Their study, “Feeling How Old I Am: Subjective Age Is Associated With Estimated Brain Age,” was published on June 7, 2018, in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.

From the article (bold red emphasis supplied):

While the aging process is a universal phenomenon, people perceive and experience one’s aging considerably differently. Subjective age (SA), referring to how individuals experience themselves as younger or older than their actual age, has been highlighted as an important predictor of late-life health outcomes. However, it is unclear whether and how SA is associated with the neurobiological process of aging. In this study, 68 healthy older adults underwent a SA survey and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. T1-weighted brain images of open-access datasets were utilized to construct a model for age prediction. We utilized both voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and age-prediction modeling techniques to explore whether the three groups of SA (i.e., feels younger, same, or older than actual age) differed in their regional gray matter (GM) volumes, and predicted brain age. The results showed that elderly individuals who perceived themselves as younger than their real age showed not only larger GM volume in the inferior frontal gyrus and the superior temporal gyrus, but also younger predicted brain age. Our findings suggest that subjective experience of aging is closely related to the process of brain aging and underscores the neurobiological mechanisms of SA as an important marker of late-life neurocognitive health….

Our findings suggest that feeling subjectively older than one’s age may reflect relatively faster aging brain structures, whereas those who feel subjectively younger would have better-preserved and healthier structures. This study, to our knowledge, was the first attempt to examine the neuroanatomical underpinnings of SA….

[O]ur findings extend the hypothesis that older SA is associated with greater progression of brain aging process and poorer brain health. Significant tissue atrophy in the GM and older brain age may be reflective of cerebrovascular risks (Seo et al., 2012; Lockhart and DeCarli, 2014), and such changes may cause older adults to appraise their deteriorated functions as being a result of their aging (Vestergren and Nilsson, 2011).

Consistent with previous studies that have reported the clinical significance of subjective perceptions of cognitive decline (Rabin et al., 2017), subjective appraisal of one’s own decline may provide information on neurobiological changes not otherwise detectable with objective cognitive tests…. Diminished volumes of GM and older brain age may lead to reduced processing efficiency in a variety of demanding cognitive tasks, and this prolonged mismatch between reduced neural resources and burdensome environmental demands can create a subjective perception of aging. Individuals with older SA feel older because they experience frequent negative sensations as they make more cognitive efforts in daily life compared to those who report younger or same SA….

In our study, while older SA group showed a tendency to have poorer cognitive function and exhibit greater depressive symptoms, feeling younger was especially associated with younger structural characteristics of the brain. 

For the article in full, click here.

There are online calculators to estimate your biological age vs. chronological age. Here’s one.

See also “Being overweight ages your brain“.

~E

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