{"id":29873,"date":"2025-09-25T16:55:30","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T16:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/?p=29873"},"modified":"2025-09-25T16:55:46","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T16:55:46","slug":"healthy-habits-can-slow-brain-aging-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/healthy-habits-can-slow-brain-aging-study-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Healthy Habits Can Slow Brain Aging, Study Finds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-blockquote uagb-block-e7eb3fc3 uagb-blockquote__skin-border uagb-blockquote__stack-img-none\"><blockquote class=\"uagb-blockquote\"><div class=\"uagb-blockquote__content\">A new University of Florida study discovered that adopting healthy habits such as optimism and good sleep can slow brain aging, with potential implications for combating cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases.<\/div><footer><div class=\"uagb-blockquote__author-wrap uagb-blockquote__author-at-left\"><\/div><\/footer><\/blockquote><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-content-justification-space-between is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-0dfbf163 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\"><div style=\"font-size:16px;\" class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-post-author\"><div class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-author__name\">The University Network<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share uagb-social-share__outer-wrap uagb-social-share__layout-horizontal uagb-block-ee584a31\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share-child uagb-ss-repeater uagb-ss__wrapper uagb-block-ec619ce7\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__link\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"facebook\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-wrap\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-icon\"><svg xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\"><path d=\"M504 256C504 119 393 8 256 8S8 119 8 256c0 123.8 90.69 226.4 209.3 245V327.7h-63V256h63v-54.64c0-62.15 37-96.48 93.67-96.48 27.14 0 55.52 4.84 55.52 4.84v61h-31.28c-30.8 0-40.41 19.12-40.41 38.73V256h68.78l-11 71.69h-57.78V501C413.3 482.4 504 379.8 504 256z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share-child uagb-ss-repeater uagb-ss__wrapper uagb-block-32d99934\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__link\" data-href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"twitter\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-wrap\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-icon\"><svg xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\"><path d=\"M389.2 48h70.6L305.6 224.2 487 464H345L233.7 318.6 106.5 464H35.8L200.7 275.5 26.8 48H172.4L272.9 180.9 389.2 48zM364.4 421.8h39.1L151.1 88h-42L364.4 421.8z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share-child uagb-ss-repeater uagb-ss__wrapper uagb-block-1d136f14\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__link\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?url=\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"linkedin\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-wrap\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-icon\"><svg xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\"><path d=\"M416 32H31.9C14.3 32 0 46.5 0 64.3v383.4C0 465.5 14.3 480 31.9 480H416c17.6 0 32-14.5 32-32.3V64.3c0-17.8-14.4-32.3-32-32.3zM135.4 416H69V202.2h66.5V416zm-33.2-243c-21.3 0-38.5-17.3-38.5-38.5S80.9 96 102.2 96c21.2 0 38.5 17.3 38.5 38.5 0 21.3-17.2 38.5-38.5 38.5zm282.1 243h-66.4V312c0-24.8-.5-56.7-34.5-56.7-34.6 0-39.9 27-39.9 54.9V416h-66.4V202.2h63.7v29.2h.9c8.9-16.8 30.6-34.5 62.9-34.5 67.2 0 79.7 44.3 79.7 101.9V416z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A new study by University of Florida researchers highlights that optimism, quality sleep and social support are strongly linked to healthier brains and can significantly slow the brain&#8217;s aging process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study followed 128 middle-aged and older adults, most of whom had chronic musculoskeletal pain or were at risk for knee osteoarthritis, over two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Utilizing MRI scans analyzed by a machine learning system, the research team estimated each participant&#8217;s &#8220;brain age&#8221; and compared it to their chronological age. This &#8220;brain age gap&#8221; served as a measure of whole-brain health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A key finding was that stressful factors such as chronic pain, low income and less education were associated with older-looking brains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, these negative impacts appeared to diminish over time. What stood out were the brain-protective benefits of positive lifestyle factors, including restorative sleep, healthy weight maintenance, stress management, avoidance of tobacco and having supportive relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese are things that people have some level of control over,&#8221; corresponding author Jared Tanner, a research associate professor of clinical and health psychology at the University of Florida, said in a news release. &#8220;You can learn how to perceive stress differently. Poor sleep is very treatable. Optimism can be practiced.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Participants who reported the most protective factors had brains approximately eight years younger than their chronological age at the study&#8217;s onset. Additionally, their brains continued to age more slowly over the following two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe message is consistent across our studies,\u201d added senior author Kimberly Sibille, an associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at UF. \u201cHealth-promoting behaviors are not only associated with lower pain and better physical functioning, they appear to actually bolster health in an additive fashion at a meaningful level.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/braincomms\/advance-article\/doi\/10.1093\/braincomms\/fcaf344\/8251081\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Published<\/a> in the journal Brain Communications, the study brings to light that while older brains are more susceptible to memory loss, dementia and Alzheimer\u2019s disease, lifestyle factors have a major impact on brain health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The research underlines that the brain age gap \u2014 a comprehensive measure of whole-brain health \u2014 captures the intricate effects of pain, stress and life experiences on the brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Though the study primarily involved individuals living with chronic pain, it suggests that similar lifestyle factors could also slow brain aging in broader populations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLiterally for every additional healthy promoting factor there is some evidence of neurobiological benefit,\u201d Sibille added. \u201cOur findings support the growing body of evidence that Lifestyle is medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:13px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/news.ufl.edu\/2025\/09\/brain-aging\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">University of Florida<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new study by University of Florida researchers highlights that optimism, quality sleep and social support are strongly linked to healthier brains and can significantly slow the brain&#8217;s aging process. The study followed 128 middle-aged and older adults, most of whom had chronic musculoskeletal pain or were at risk for knee osteoarthritis, over two years. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-no-separators","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,20],"tags":[107],"class_list":["post-29873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-lifestyle","tag-university-of-florida"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"The University Network","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/author\/funky_junkie\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"A new study by University of Florida researchers highlights that optimism, quality sleep and social support are strongly linked to healthier brains and can significantly slow the brain&#8217;s aging process. The study followed 128 middle-aged and older adults, most of whom had chronic musculoskeletal pain or were at risk for knee osteoarthritis, over two years.&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29873"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29889,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29873\/revisions\/29889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}