The study was conducted by the Seoul National University team in South Korea. For research, the team invited 68 healthy subjects aged 59-84 to ask about each person's physical condition: Do you feel older, young? Or feel that you are just the right age, and also have a brain tomography (MRI) for each individual.
The scans show that people who feel younger have more gray matter in key areas of the brain's memory (like the hippocampus), and gray matter is related to memory and gradually declines with age.
In addition to the gray matter comparison, those who are younger and younger have achieved better results in memory tests, including the task of recollecting the plot after 15 to 30 minutes of hearing the story, as for those who feel older or older than the actual age. Their brains have some microcognitive changes, such as mild memory loss.
These conditions represent the actual ageing of the brains of the "feeling young" group, which is indeed lower than the "feeling older" brain.
This is the first study to link people's senses of age and brain aging. The researchers believe that those who are older and may also perceive the aging process in the brain, because the reduction in gray matter may lead to recognition. Knowing tasks is more challenging.
Co-author Dr. Jeanyung Chey said that they found that young people who have a young mind do have the structural characteristics of a young brain and, more importantly, take into account other possible factors – including personality, subjective health, depressive symptoms or cognitive function. , this difference still exists.
"If someone feels older than the actual age, this may be a sign to assess their lifestyle, habits and activities, and then take steps to better care for brain health."