If you feel younger than your age, your brain could be too | Life

SEOUL, July 4 – They say you're only as old as you feel, and now new research suggests that there may be some truth in the expression, finding that those who feel younger

Conducted by researchers from the Seoul National University in Korea, the new small-scale study looked at whether our age, also called our subjective age, reflects well the aging of our body

. ] "Why do some people feel younger or older than their actual age?" Asks Dr. Jeanyung Chey. "Some possibilities include depressive states, personality differences, or physical health." For research, the team recruited 68 healthy people aged 59 to 84 and gave each person MRI scans of the brain in order to badess the volume of the disease.

Participants were also asked to complete a survey that badessed their cognitive abilities and perceptions of their general health status and asked them if they were Feeled older or younger than their age

Feeling younger than their age were more likely to have a better score on a memory test, were healthier and less likely to report symptoms of depression

In addition, those who felt younger areas of the brain.

"We found that people who feel younger have the structural features of a younger brain, "Chey said. "Importantly, this difference remains robust even when other possible factors, including personality, subjective health, depressive symptoms, or cognitive functions, are taken into account."

The study is the first to establish a link between subjective age and cerebral aging. The team hypothesizes that those who feel older may feel aging in their brains, as their loss of gray matter can make cognitive tasks more difficult.

Another possibility is that those who feel younger are more likely to live a more active life physically and mentally, which could improve brain health, while for those who feel older, the opposite might be true.

"If someone feels older than his or her age, this could be a sign to evaluate their lifestyle, their habits and their activities that could contribute to aging of the brain and take steps to better take care of the health of their brains, "said Chey.

The findings can be found published online in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience .- AFP-Relaxnews