CHICAGO: Having a strong sense of purpose in life may lower the likelihood of brain tissue damage in older adults, new research suggests.
Autopsies conducted among adults in their 80s revealed that those who felt their lives had meaning had far fewer “macroscopic infarcts” – small areas of dead tissue resulting from blockage of blood flow.
This kind of brain tissue damage is believed to boost the risk for developing dementia, movement problems, disability and/or death – many classic characteristics of old age.
“We know that negative emotional states like feeling bad, alone or sad are associated with a lot of negative health outcomes, whether or not you actually are alone or why you may be feeling badly,” said study co-author Patricia Boyle, a neuropsychologist at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center in Chicago…