On mind-body science, cognitive health, what it is like to care for a parent, and what it takes to build tools that help, going beyond measuring.
A review of more than a thousand trials found exercise eases depression as well as medication or therapy, and often faster.
Some common drugs, a few sold over the counter, can cloud memory now and track with higher dementia risk over years.
In the SPRINT MIND trial, driving blood pressure lower cut new mild cognitive impairment by nearly a fifth.
In a trial of older adults, tai chi cut falls by more than half, and its mental demand may sharpen the mind as it steadies the body.
Across hundreds of studies, strong social ties raised the odds of survival by half, a boost on the order of quitting smoking.
Eight weeks of mindfulness measurably changed the brain's gray matter, and a large review found real relief for anxiety, depression, and pain.
The MIND diet tracked with cognition years younger, and a Mediterranean diet cut heart events in a large trial. What holds up, and what a new trial tempered.
In the SAMSON trial, ninety percent of the discomfort people blamed on their statin also appeared on identical placebo pills.
In several trials, patients told plainly they were taking a placebo still got better. What the ritual of care does on its own.
In the antidepressant trials filed with the FDA, most of the response to the drug was matched by placebo. What expectation contributes, and how to use it.
The sleeping brain runs a cleaning system that clears the day's debris, and the hours of rest turn out to be working hours for the mind.
Older adults with a strong sense of purpose developed Alzheimer's at a fraction of the rate, and purpose is something a family can help build.
A year of regular walking enlarged the hippocampus in older adults, effectively turning back the clock on the brain's memory hub.
In the ACHIEVE trial, treating hearing loss slowed cognitive decline by nearly half among older adults at higher risk.
The 2024 Lancet Commission counted fourteen things we can change, and tied close to half of dementia risk to them.
People with a hopeful view of growing older lived about seven and a half years longer, and the frame begins with how a family talks about age.
In a long study of Finnish men, frequent sauna bathing tracked with far fewer sudden cardiac deaths and a lower risk of dementia.
Among older adults, those who had cataract surgery developed dementia almost a third less often, and the benefit belonged to vision-restoring surgery alone.
In a long study of older adults, frequent dancing stood out as the one physical activity tied to a markedly lower risk of dementia.
Studies on two continents found that lifelong bilinguals showed the symptoms of dementia about four to five years later than people who spoke one language.
Across nearly 140,000 people in seventeen countries, grip strength predicted the risk of death better than blood pressure did.
In a study of older adults, walks taken in a spirit of awe lifted everyday joy and turned attention outward, away from the worried self.
In the first randomized trial of food as a treatment for depression, a Mediterranean-style diet helped about a third of people reach remission, four times the comparison group.
In a study of more than 120,000 people, higher cardiorespiratory fitness tracked with longer life, with no upper limit to the benefit.
In a study of nearly twenty thousand people, two hours a week in nature marked the threshold for better health and wellbeing.
People who kept a short weekly list of things they were grateful for felt more optimistic, slept better, and even exercised more than those who tracked hassles.
Pooling millions of people, researchers found that dog owners lived longer, with the benefit largest for those living alone or recovering from heart trouble.
In a trial of people with early memory trouble, plain crossword puzzles outperformed purpose-built brain games, with less decline and less brain shrinkage.
In two large studies, the most optimistic people lived meaningfully longer than the least, and were far more likely to reach the age of eighty-five.
In a long study of older adults, book readers were meaningfully less likely to die over the years that followed, and books outdid magazines and newspapers.
In studies of group singing, strangers in a choir bonded faster than other classes, and the singers came away calmer and brighter of mood.
In a clever experiment, people handed a little money were happier at day’s end when they spent it on someone else, and the amount hardly mattered.
When researchers gathered the studies on gardening, the people with their hands in the soil reported brighter moods, less anxiety, and a fuller sense of life.
In a pooled study of more than eight hundred thousand people, those married in later life tended to face a lower risk of dementia than those who lived alone.
In a large three-year trial, older adults who took a daily multivitamin showed slower cognitive aging than those who took a placebo.
When researchers pooled nine studies, how fast a person walked predicted how long they would live about as well as far more complicated measures.
Across many studies, older adults who volunteered their time were meaningfully less likely to die, and reported a stronger sense of purpose and better health.
In a long study of older adults, those who went to museums, concerts, and the theatre even a few times a year were meaningfully less likely to die.
In a study that followed thousands of lives for a quarter of a century, people who slept six hours or less in midlife were more likely to develop dementia.
When researchers pooled sixteen long studies, adults who did a little muscle-strengthening each week were meaningfully less likely to die over the years that followed.
In two of the largest studies ever made of the habit, people who drank a few cups of coffee a day were meaningfully less likely to die, decaf included.
When nursing-home residents were given small choices to make and a plant of their own to tend, they grew happier and more alert, and fared better a year and a half on.
In a study of older women, those who lived where the air grew cleaner saw their thinking age more slowly, by the equivalent of more than a year of brain aging.
Breaking up a long sitting day with short, light walks helped steady the body and the mind through the afternoon, more than sitting unbroken did.
In a large study of older adults, those who lived for years with more traffic noise outside their windows carried a somewhat higher risk of later memory trouble.
In a long study of older adults, those whose diets were richest in the natural pigments of berries, apples, and tea were less likely to report their thinking slipping.
When adults spent three-quarters of an hour making art, the stress hormone in their bodies fell for most of them, no skill or training required.
In a study of healthy adults, more hours spent sitting each day went hand in hand with a thinner region of the brain where memories are formed.
When people drank the very same milkshake but believed it was rich and indulgent, their bodies responded as if it were, with a sharper drop in the hunger hormone.
In a large study of older adults, long use of a common class of everyday medicines was linked to a higher risk of later memory trouble, and a conversation worth having.
In a large study of older adults, a simple test of the sense of smell turned out to be a quiet window into overall health, a signal worth noticing and mentioning.
Across dozens of randomized trials, omega-3 fats, especially the kind richest in oily fish, eased the symptoms of depression by a small but real measure.
When stroke survivors listened to their own music each day during recovery, their memory and attention returned faster and their mood lifted.
When hotel housekeepers were told their daily work already counted as good exercise, their bodies began to change to match the belief, though they moved no more than before.
