Here’s what science has worked out about how to stay sharp as you age…

Whether we like it or not, we all age.

But what we’d all like is to hold on to health and happiness as we age.

Just as important as health and happiness, however, is mental clarity. So if you want to stay healthy AND happy AND cognitively sharp then keep reading…

via Business Insider by Erin Brodwin

• Scientists are fascinated by a rare group of people known as super-agers — people over age 80 who retain certain cognitive abilities that are similar to people in their 50s.
• Previous research on super-agers found differences in the sizes of certain areas of their brains.
• A new study found that super-agers also differ in their social networks.

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So much for not being able to teach an old dog new tricks.

Some older people can remember things just as well as peers who are nearly half their age. Scientists are calling them “super-agers” for their unique ability to stay sharp into old age

Several months ago, researchers discovered at least one physical basis for these differences that has to do with the thickness of the outer layer of the super-agers’ brains.

But in a small study published in October in the journal PLOS One, researchers took a look at whether there was a social side to these differences as well. Sure enough, after studying 31 super-agers over age 80 as well as 19 cognitively average people of the same age, the scientists found that the super-agers tended to have significantly more satisfying, high-quality relationships than their normal peers…

…keep reading the full & original article HERE