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

Avsnitt(348)

Is Pop Culture Worse Than Ever?

Is Pop Culture Worse Than Ever?

In music, billion-dollar investments in old catalogues are squeezing out new music. In film, Hollywood has become addicted to the regurgitation of familiar IP. In visual art, critics bemoan the strait...

9 Maj 20251h

The Job Market for Young Grads Is Flashing Red

The Job Market for Young Grads Is Flashing Red

Last month, the unemployment rate for recent college grads surged to nearly 6 percent. Compared to the overall economy's jobless rate, the unemployment rate for recent grads is higher now than in any ...

6 Maj 202543min

Megapod: The Crisis in American Science

Megapod: The Crisis in American Science

Today, we are witnessing an unprecedented assault on American science. Thousands of workers have been dismissed from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Billions of ...

2 Maj 20252h 4min

Is This the Chinese Century?

Is This the Chinese Century?

In the last few weeks, for the first time in my life, I’ve seriously thought about the 21st century not being another American century. A recent essay in the journal Foreign Affairs by Rush Doshi and...

29 Apr 20251h 8min

What Americans Get Wrong About ADHD

What Americans Get Wrong About ADHD

In 1937, a Rhode Island psychiatrist named Charles Bradley ran an experiment on 30 child patients who had complained of headaches. He gave them an amphetamine, that is a stimulant, called Benzedrine, ...

25 Apr 20251h 7min

An Astrophysicist Explains the "Strongest Evidence Yet" of Alien Life

An Astrophysicist Explains the "Strongest Evidence Yet" of Alien Life

Last week, a team of astrophysicists from the University of Cambridge announced that they had discovered the “strongest indication” ever of extraterrestrial life. The source did not come from Mars or ...

22 Apr 20251h 4min

A Toy Manufacturer Explains How Trump’s Tariffs Could Crush His Industry

A Toy Manufacturer Explains How Trump’s Tariffs Could Crush His Industry

In the past three weeks, we've spoken to economists about the tariffs. We’ve spoken to a historian about the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act and the 100-year legacy of American protectionism. We've spoken to ...

17 Apr 202533min

Why America Will Lose Its Trade War With China

Why America Will Lose Its Trade War With China

The U.S. is in the opening innings of a full-blown trade war with China. What does that actually mean? What do we sell to China? What does China sell to us? How is each country dependent on the other ...

16 Apr 202543min

Populärt inom Politik & nyheter

aftonbladet-krim
motiv
p3-krim
fordomspodden
rss-viva-fotboll
flashback-forever
spar
svenska-fall
aftonbladet-daily
svd-dokumentara-berattelser-2
rss-sanning-konsekvens
rss-krimstad
rss-vad-fan-hande
rss-krimreportrarna
krimmagasinet
rss-frandfors-horna
olyckan-inifran
dagens-eko
rss-aftonbladet-krim
svd-ledarredaktionen