The Healthspan Revolution: Why Aging Doesn't Have to Mean Decline

When I got sick as a child, my mother encouraged me to deploy my “happy hormones”, a thoroughly made up Mom term that roughly translated to “think happy thoughts and you’ll get better”. 

It turns out Mom was on to something. 

A recent study by Becca R. Levy and Martin D. Slade suggests the power of positive thinking can help us age better. Their research, published in Geriatrics in 2026, examined whether older adults can experience measurable improvements in cognitive and physical functioning over time and whether positive beliefs about aging help drive that improvement.

The results suggest aging does not necessarily mean decline—and that something as simple as believing aging can be positive may actually improve health outcomes.

Rethinking the Aging Narrative

We are conditioned to believe that aging equals decline. Surveys show that most people believe cognitive decline is unavoidable in later life. Nearly half think they will eventually develop dementia. 

Levy and Slade set out to study this assumption. Instead of asking whether older adults decline, they asked a different question: How many older adults actually improve over time?

The Study: Tracking Health in Older Adults

The researchers used data from the Health and Retirement Study, a large national longitudinal study of older Americans supported by the National Institute on Aging. Participants were followed for up to 12 years, allowing researchers to track long-term changes in both cognitive and physical functioning.

Two key measures were used:

• Cognitive health: assessed using the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS), a validated measure that tests memory, recall, and mathematical skills.

• Physical health: measured through walking speed, often called the “sixth vital sign” because it strongly predicts disability, hospitalization, and mortality.

Participants also completed a survey measuring age beliefs—their attitudes toward aging. For example, statements included ideas like whether getting older makes someone feel more useless or whether they feel just as happy as when they were younger. Higher scores reflected more positive beliefs about aging.

Decline Isn’t Inevitable

The findings were surprising. Across the study period:

• 31.9% of participants improved in cognitive function

• 28.0% improved in walking speed

• 45.15% improved in either cognitive or physical functioning

These improvements occurred over periods of up to 12 years.

Even more striking, when researchers also counted participants whose health remained stable rather than declining, the numbers rose further:

• 51% maintained or improved cognitive health

• 37.6% maintained or improved physical health

In other words, more than half of participants did not experience cognitive decline over the study period.

These findings challenge the long-held idea that aging is universally associated with deterioration.

The Role of Positive Age Beliefs

The second major question in the study was whether positive beliefs about aging influenced health outcomes.

The results showed a consistent pattern: people with more positive views of aging were significantly more likely to improve in both cognition and walking speed.

Even after adjusting for factors such as:

• age

• education

• depression

• cardiovascular disease

• sleep problems

• genetics (including APOE-4 risk factors)

• social isolation

Positive age beliefs still predicted improvement.

This pattern held across multiple statistical models and sensitivity analyses, suggesting the relationship was robust.

Why Beliefs About Aging Matter

The findings are rooted in a concept known as stereotype embodiment theory, developed by Levy. According to this theory, people absorb societal beliefs about aging throughout their lives. These beliefs—both positive and negative—become internalized and eventually influence health.

Early in life, age stereotypes are directed at others. But as individuals grow older, we begin to absorb them. As people begin to see themselves as part of the “older adult” category, the stereotypes can shape their behavior, stress levels, and even biological processes.

For example:

• Negative stereotypes may increase stress and discourage physical activity.

• Positive beliefs may encourage engagement, confidence, and resilience.

Previous research has shown that positive age beliefs are associated with better memory, faster walking speed, and even longer life expectancy. The current study expands on that research by demonstrating that positive beliefs may not only slow decline but actually contribute to improvement.

What Makes Us Positive 

Here’s the question the study doesn’t answer: Can people be coached to adopt positive behaviors and attitudes? If you walk daily, your walking speed will be faster, and the vascular benefits of exercise will improve your cognition. But what if you have balance issues that keep you from walking or just dread it? 

For many people, structured lifestyle interventions are needed. The US POINTER study shows those interventions significantly improve cognitive function in older adults at risk for cognitive decline. 

The Takeaway

Aging has long been associated with loss. But this research suggests that the story is more complex.

Nearly half of older adults in this study experienced measurable improvement in cognitive or physical functioning over time. And those improvements were more likely among individuals who believed aging could be positive.

Learn what Mindr.us does to support the behaviors that underpin positive attitudes toward aging.