Toseewhetherattitudescanstill
bereversedclosertotheendoflife,
Langerranstudiesinwhicholder
peoplewereencouragedtoremember
whatit wasliketobeyoung.Inherfa-
mous‘Counterclockwise’study,con-
ductedin1979,eightmenintheir70s
and80sweredroppedintoanelabo-
ratetime-capsulerecreationof1959.
Theyemerged,oneweeklater,meas-
urablymorespry– theirgripstrength
andflexibilityhadimproved,andthey
performedbetterontestsofcognition.
Thiswork hasinspiredthede-
signofsomeseniors’facilitiesand
therethinkingofeldercare.Inthe
Hogeweyk‘DementiaVillage’,built
nearAmsterdamin2009,residentsare
placedintocottagestailoredtoevoke
thefamiliarandcomfortingsurround-
ingsoftheirparticularupbringing.
Inadditiontoherstudiesonmortal-
ityandheartdisease,Levyhasgoneon
toshowthatageismaffectseventhings
youwouldn’texpecttohavea psycho-
logicaldimension,suchasbalance,
handwritingandmemory.
AndlastFebruary,inthePublic
LibraryofScience’sjournalPLOS
ONE, Levy published her most
personalstudyyet.
Hergrandfatherhadsufferedfrom
Alzheimer’sand,incollaborationwith
thescientificdirectoroftheNation-
alInstituteonAgeing,sheexplored
whetherageistthoughtscouldinflu-
encethatcondition.
Usingadatasetof 4765 subjects
withanaverageage of 72, Levy and
threecolleagueszeroedinonpeople
whocarrythe 4 variantoftheAPOE
gene,whichincreasesthelikelihood
ofdevelopingearly-onsetAlzheim-
er’sandotherformsofdementiaby
50 percent.
Asitturnedout,arounda quarter
ofthesubjectscarriedthevariant,
andallofthemwerestilldemen-
tia-freeatthatpoint.WhenLev y
comparedattitudestowardsgetting
olderwith healthoutcomesfour
yearslater,thosewhoheldmore
optimisticviewsofageingwerehalf
aslikelytoshowsignsofdementia.PUSHINGBACKAGAINSTAGEISM
shouldbeginearly,saysLev y,noting
thatstudieshaveshownchildrenas
youngasthreehavealreadytakenin
negativestereotypes.
“Butwealsohaveresearchthat
suggeststhatthoughtsaremallea-
ble,”sheadds.“Ifyoupromptthem,
mostpeoplecancomeupwithposi-
tiveimagesofageing.Peoplecanbe
taughttoquestionnegativebeliefs.”
Howwouldweknowwhethera
newgenerationisacceptingmore
positiveattitudes aboutageing?
Perhaps,downtheroad,whenyou
begintotype“Oldpeopleshould”
intoGoogle,thesearchenginewill
spitoutaresultlike:“Oldpeople
shouldberespected.”
Orperhaps:“Oldpeopleshould
havepatiencewiththerestofus.”
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