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Longevity science, explained
Evidence-based articles on sleep, nutrition, skin aging, cognitive health, and the science of living longer, better.
Cognitive Longevity
23 articlesCognitive Longevity
The Aging Brain: What Actually Changes With Age
Brain volume loss is real, measurable from healthy midlife onward, and isn't evenly distributed — decline concentrates in specific regions and accelerates at a fairly well-defined point in later life rather than following a steady slope.
Cognitive Longevity
Cognitive Reserve: Why Some Brains Age Better Than Others
Two people can have near-identical brain scans, similar pathology, even similar Alzheimer's markers — yet one shows clear symptoms while the other functions normally. Cognitive reserve explains why, and what actually builds it.
Cognitive Longevity
Neuroplasticity After 40: Can the Adult Brain Still Rewire Itself?
Whether the adult brain still makes new neurons is a genuine, unresolved scientific controversy. But structural brain plasticity itself isn't in dispute — a year of aerobic exercise measurably grew back hippocampal volume in a landmark trial.
Cognitive Longevity
Brain Volume and Longevity: What MRI Studies Actually Show
A brain scan can now produce a single predictive number — "brain age gap" — that's linked to a 2.36x difference in mortality risk between the highest and lowest quartiles. Here's what it actually measures, and what it doesn't.
Cognitive Longevity
Vascular Health and the Brain: Why What's Good for Your Heart Is Good for Your Mind
A landmark randomized trial found that simply lowering blood pressure more aggressively cut the risk of mild cognitive impairment by 19% — one of the few cognitive-longevity factors with trial-level, not just observational, evidence.
Cognitive Longevity
Alzheimer's Disease: Risk Factors You Can Actually Change
A standing international commission estimates nearly half of dementia cases worldwide are linked to 14 modifiable factors, from hearing loss to LDL cholesterol. Here's the full risk picture, ranked.
Cognitive Longevity
Mild Cognitive Impairment: The Warning Stage Before Dementia
MCI raises dementia risk about threefold — but many people stay stable, and in community samples roughly a quarter return to normal cognition. What an MCI diagnosis actually means, and what's worth checking first.
Cognitive Longevity
APOE4 and Genetic Risk: What a Gene Variant Does and Doesn't Determine
One copy of APOE4 roughly doubles lifetime Alzheimer's risk from a low baseline; two copies raise it much further. But it's a risk gene, not a verdict — and carriers still benefit from lifestyle change.
Cognitive Longevity
Hearing Loss and Dementia Risk: An Underappreciated Link
Hearing loss is tied for the largest single modifiable dementia risk factor — yet only about 3 in 10 older adults with hearing loss use hearing aids. What the evidence shows, and where it's still uncertain.
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