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)

Should We Cancel Student Debt?

Should We Cancel Student Debt?

Americans owe $1.7 trillion in student loans, and some Democrats think the time has come to cancel this burden. Derek shares 10 big student-loan facts that shape the debate. Then Jordan Weissmann of S...

28 Jan 202237min

Crypto Crashing, Pandemic Stocks Plunging: The Story Behind January’s Crazy Stock Market

Crypto Crashing, Pandemic Stocks Plunging: The Story Behind January’s Crazy Stock Market

Morgan Housel, the bestselling author of ‘The Psychology of Money’ and a partner at Collaborative Fund, is back to talk Bitcoin, Peloton, tech stocks, financial media myths, the psychology of stock ma...

25 Jan 202244min

2022 Is Off to a Terrible Start for Democrats

2022 Is Off to a Terrible Start for Democrats

Legendary journalist James Fallows joins to discuss the filibuster wars, Democrats’ Voting Rights Act, the political outlook for Joe Biden and the Democrats, and the media’s negativity bias (as exempl...

21 Jan 202241min

The Biggest Losers of the Streaming Wars: ESPN, Movie Theaters, Peacock, and More

The Biggest Losers of the Streaming Wars: ESPN, Movie Theaters, Peacock, and More

Do movie theaters have a future? What should Disney do with ESPN? And is anybody watching Peacock? Derek’s favorite entertainment-media analyst Rich Greenfield joins the pod to talk about the future o...

18 Jan 202249min

Everybody Was Wrong About Inflation

Everybody Was Wrong About Inflation

Okay, almost everybody. The Biden administration was wrong. Many critics of the Biden administration were also wrong. The Federal Reserve was wrong. Investors were wrong. Banks were wrong. And Bitcoin...

14 Jan 202243min

Omicron: Feelings vs. Facts

Omicron: Feelings vs. Facts

Derek talks about the rise of the "Vaxxed and Done" movement before reviewing the latest omicron data with John Burn-Murdoch, data superstar at the Financial Times. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: John Bu...

11 Jan 202236min

The Biggest Inventions of the 2020s: Cancer Vaccines, Flying Cars, Space Travel, and More

The Biggest Inventions of the 2020s: Cancer Vaccines, Flying Cars, Space Travel, and More

Let’s kick off the new year with a bit of techno-optimism! After a miserable start to this decade, we can still have a Roaring Twenties. In this episode, ‘Plain English’ presents a tour of the frontie...

7 Jan 202254min

The Four Ways That America Is Polarizing

The Four Ways That America Is Polarizing

David Frum joins Derek to talk about rising and falling polarization by race, gender, education, and place—and what it tells us about America's strange new politics. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: David ...

28 Des 202138min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden-usa
aftenpodden
i-retten
forklart
stopp-verden
popradet
fotballpodden-2
rss-gukild-johaug
nokon-ma-ga
det-store-bildet
dine-penger-pengeradet
bt-dokumentar-2
aftenbla-bla
hanna-de-heldige
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
rss-dannet-uten-piano
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-ness
e24-podden