A new Yale School of Public Health study is the first to
link negative beliefs to brain changes that can cause Alzheimer’s. The
findings are consistent with a multitude of studies that show what we think has
a profound physiological impact on our body.
Not only are positive beliefs now shown to protect against
Alzheimer’s, but an appreciative, grateful, happy and optimistic outlook can
result in better cardiovascular health and lower blood pressure which can lead
to longer life.
The Yale study authors used MRIs to examine healthy, dementia-free
subjects from the Baltimore Longitudinal
Study of Aging, the nation’s longest-running scientific study of human aging.
Researchers found that participants with more negative beliefs about aging
showed a greater decline in the volume of the hippocampus, a part of the brain
crucial to memory, than those who had beliefs that are more positive. Less hippocampus
volume is a sign of Alzheimer’s disease.
Your thoughts and emotions are in fact cellular signals
that are involved in the process of translating information into physical
reality. It turns out that what we think and feel have far
greater impact on our physical well-being, and to happy, healthy longevity than
we may realize.
The study was led by Becca Levy, associate professor of
public health and of psychology. “We believe it is the stress generated by the
negative beliefs about aging that individuals sometimes internalize from society
that can result in pathological brain changes,” says Levy. “Although the
findings are concerning, it is encouraging to realize that these negative
beliefs about aging can be mitigated and positive beliefs about aging can be
reinforced, so that the adverse impact is not inevitable.” The findings were
published online Dec. 7 in the journal Psychology and Aging.
To learn more about the mind-physical body connection, watch a YouTube at https://youtu.be/7xcgq4TbGgA.
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