The Healthiest "Super-Agers" Have One Thing in Common, According to a 25-Year Study

The Healthiest "Super-Agers" Have One Thing in Common, According to a 25-Year Study

Memory is the glue of life. Without it, our focus softens, our experience of the world blurs, and our identities melt away. But as people age, their memory declines. Many billions of dollars have been spent to understand the biological basis of dementia and to devise a cure. In most cases, they have failed spectacularly. But what if, rather than study the brains of people with advanced memory loss, we instead studied the brains of people with the opposite condition: extraordinary memory and brain health in old age? For the past few decades, Sandra Weintraub, a scientist at Northwestern University, has been part of a team studying the brains of "super-agers," people 80 and older who have the memory ability of people in their 50s. In a new paper published this year to considerable fanfare, she found that super-agers didn't have much in common. They didn't share a diet, or an exercise regimen, or a set of maladies or medications. One thing, however, united them: their social relationships. Today's guest is Sandra Weintraub. We talk about the science of memory and the brain and the protective benefit of social connection for our minds and ourselves. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Dr. Sandra Weintraub Producer: Devon Baroldi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episoder(348)

How to Watch Election Night Without Falling for Conspiracy Theories or False Hope

How to Watch Election Night Without Falling for Conspiracy Theories or False Hope

Today’s guest (our final preelection guest) is David Wasserman, political analyst with the Cook Political Report, who also helps out with the NBC decision desk. There are dozens, maybe hundreds, of pe...

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This Small Pennsylvania Town Explains the 2024 Election

This Small Pennsylvania Town Explains the 2024 Election

Today, a close look at the history of a Pennsylvania town and how that history contains within it the story of the 2024 election. In September, Donald Trump claimed that the city of Charleroi, Pennsyl...

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Why Is Every Recent Presidential Election So Close?

Why Is Every Recent Presidential Election So Close?

My favorite sort of social phenomenon is something that seems normal to modern eyes that is actually incredibly unusual. We take it for granted that every presidential election is a nail-biter these d...

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Is Radical Human Life Extension Possible?

Is Radical Human Life Extension Possible?

In 1900, the average US life expectancy was 47 years old. That's the current age of Tom Brady, Ryan Reynolds, and Shakira. But extraordinary advances in medicine and public health have surged lifespan...

18 Okt 202453min

America's Young Men Are Falling Behind—and Shifting Right

America's Young Men Are Falling Behind—and Shifting Right

Today: the state of men and what's really happening in the gender divide in politics. Many young men are falling behind economically and socially at the same time that men and women are coming apart p...

11 Okt 202448min

Is the Middle East on the Verge of All-Out War?

Is the Middle East on the Verge of All-Out War?

Since October 7, 2023, many have feared that the conflict between Israel and Hamas would bloom into a wider war that would consume the Middle East. Today, we are dangerously close to that reality. In ...

4 Okt 20241h 2min

The Surprising Science of Cynicism (Plus: The Policy Paradox of the 2024 Election)

The Surprising Science of Cynicism (Plus: The Policy Paradox of the 2024 Election)

Derek shares his biggest frustrations about the 2024 election, like the lack of a policy debate and blind spots in news coverage and polling analysis. Then he welcomes Jamil Zaki to the show: a profes...

27 Sep 20241h 5min

A Sports Mystery: What Happened to the NFL Quarterback?

A Sports Mystery: What Happened to the NFL Quarterback?

Today, a mystery about what some people consider the most important position in sports: What the hell is going on with the NFL quarterback? We are two weeks into the 2024 football season. And as sever...

20 Sep 202445min

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