Aging can be a bigger boon to your health than you may think, new research shows.
If you turned 65 recently, you’ve got a lot to look forward to.
After examining more than a decade of data, researchers at Yale University found that nearly half of adults age 65 and older improved in either physical or mental capabilities over that period of time. Some became faster walkers. Others performed better on cognitive tests. A subset of seniors improved in both areas.
The study, published in the journal Geriatrics, also found that older adults who reported having more positive beliefs about aging at the beginning of the study were more likely to experience gains in health during the next decade.
Although a positive attitude can’t prevent illnesses or disabilities that may develop with age, the findings suggest people may have more agency over their health as they get older than previously thought. “Many people equate aging with an inevitable and continuous loss of physical and cognitive abilities,” said lead author Becca R. Levy, Ph.D., a professor of social and behavioral sciences, in an article published by the Yale School of Public Health. “What we found is that improvement in later life is not rare, it’s common, and it should be included in our understanding of the aging process.”
Healthy for the Long Haul
To conduct their study, scientists tracked more than 11,000 participants in the Health and Retirement Study, a long-running, federally supported research project designed to represent the U.S. population as it ages, analyzing up to 12 years of data on each participant.
The researchers examined two aspects of aging: cognitive and physical performance. Cognition was evaluated using a global assessment tool that tracked capabilities such as memory and mental processing. Physical function was measured through a person’s walking speed. (Because walking relies on muscle strength, balance, and coordination, it is often used in geriatric medicine to provide information about overall health and ability to function independently.)
The researchers compared each participant’s performance at the beginning of the study with their last available assessment. Among participants age 65 and older, 45% improved in cognitive function, physical function, or both over the follow-up period. Approximately 32% showed cognitive improvement, while about 28% improved physically, and a small group showed improvement in both.
Averages Don’t Tell the Story
The fact that previous data has not indicated an improvement in health with age was not surprising to the researchers. When the participant pool was looked at as a whole, they noted, improvements were minimal. “What’s striking is that these gains disappear when you only look at averages,” Levy told the Yale School of Public Health. “But when you look at individual trajectories, you uncover a very different story. A meaningful percentage of the older participants that we studied got better.”
By drilling down to the individual level, the Yale researchers identified gains among multiple segments of the population. Participants who began the study with some sort of impairment, whom you might expect to show improvement over time as they recovered, often did finish the study stronger than they started. But researchers also observed improvement among people who began the study with normal cognitive abilities or normal walking speeds, suggesting that otherwise healthy older adults may still have room to improve their mental and physical abilities in their 60s, 70s, and beyond.
If You Think It, You Can Be It
Just how big a role does mindset play in determining who gets “better” with age? At the beginning of the study, participants completed a questionnaire that asked how strongly they agreed or disagreed with statements about growing older. These included both negative ideas (feeling less useful with age), and positive ones (feeling as happy now as when they were younger).
As it turned out, people with more positive age beliefs were significantly more likely to show gains in cognitive performance and walking speed over the course of the next decade. The association between attitude and performance remained even after the researchers accounted for factors including age, sex, education, chronic health conditions, depression, and length of follow-up.
“Our findings suggest there is often a reserve capacity for improvement in later life,” Levy said in the Yale article. “And because age beliefs are modifiable, this opens the door to interventions at both the individual and societal level.”
Of course, positive thinking is not a magical shield against disease. But expectations can nevertheless influence behaviors around health, which in turn can influence outcomes. For instance, someone who believes that they will naturally get weaker and slower with age may be less likely to start strength training or ask whether a treatable health problem is contributing to a decline in function. Feeling defeated or powerless to change an outcome may also reduce motivation and activity.
Meanwhile, someone who believes improvement is possible may be more willing to practice a skill, persist through setbacks, and seek preventive care to shore up their health. In short, believing in the possibility of better health with age may become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
If You Think It, You Can Be It
Just how big a role does mindset play in determining who gets “better” with age? At the beginning of the study, participants completed a questionnaire that asked how strongly they agreed or disagreed with statements about growing older. These included both negative ideas (feeling less useful with age), and positive ones (feeling as happy now as when they were younger).
As it turned out, people with more positive age beliefs were significantly more likely to show gains in cognitive performance and walking speed over the course of the next decade. The association between attitude and performance remained even after the researchers accounted for factors including age, sex, education, chronic health conditions, depression, and length of follow-up.
“Our findings suggest there is often a reserve capacity for improvement in later life,” Levy said in the Yale article. “And because age beliefs are modifiable, this opens the door to interventions at both the individual and societal level.”
Of course, positive thinking is not a magical shield against disease. But expectations can nevertheless influence behaviors around health, which in turn can influence outcomes. For instance, someone who believes that they will naturally get weaker and slower with age may be less likely to start strength training or ask whether a treatable health problem is contributing to a decline in function. Feeling defeated or powerless to change an outcome may also reduce motivation and activity.
Meanwhile, someone who believes improvement is possible may be more willing to practice a skill, persist through setbacks, and seek preventive care to shore up their health. In short, believing in the possibility of better health with age may become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Promising, But Questions Remain
The study was observational, meaning researchers recorded participants’ beliefs and followed their functioning over time but did not actively alter variables and measure outcomes. The data show a clear association between optimism and better health, but do not definitely prove that one caused the other.
It is possible, for instance, that people who held more positive beliefs were also genetically predisposed to better health. The researchers adjusted for several potential explanations, but no statistical model can account for every difference between people.
Also, the variables chosen to represent mental and physical improvement were broad: The cognitive assessment measured short-term memory, delayed recall, and mathematical skills—while standard for this type of test, by no means a comprehensive analysis of brain function. And walking speed, although useful, does not capture every dimension of physical health, such as upper-body strength, top aerobic capacity, or balance.
Still, the study’s large, nationally representative sample and lengthy follow-up make the central finding difficult to dismiss: Namely, that cognitive and physical improvements during older age are not isolated exceptions but expected outcomes for nearly half of the population.
What These Findings Mean for You
If you don’t already question anyone who dismisses your health complaints as “just part of getting older,” this study is reason to start. Changes in memory, walking, or strength are not a given. Sometimes, a downturn in strength or mobility may be related to treatable conditions or medication side effects; in both cases, talking with your doctor may help remedy an issue rather than thinking you need to put up with it.
Just as importantly, older adults deserve goals that go beyond the staving off mental and physical decline. The focus should be on: What more can you learn? How much stronger can you become? What skills could you improve? Families and caregivers can reinforce this approach by offering support without assuming that the natural trajectory is for someone to become less capable. Healthcare professionals also play a role in whether aging is presented as a period of possibility or only of loss.
The new findings don’t discount that aging brings real changes. Some people experience significant illness, disability, or cognitive decline as the years go on, and no amount of positive thinking can change that. But decline is not universal, continuous, or inevitable in every area.
A substantial proportion of the older adults in this study became cognitively sharper, physically faster, or both. Recognizing that older age can still bring growth is the first step to altering the way society views aging. With encouragement and opportunity, today’s seniors are just getting started living their best lives.
Sources
Improvement With Age Study: Geriatrics. (2026.) “Aging Redefined: Cognitive and Physical Improvement With Positive Age Beliefs.” https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3417/11/2/28
Study Recap: Yale School of Public Health. (2026.) “New Study Challenges Notion That Aging Means Decline, Finds Many Older Adults Improve Over Time.” https://ysph.yale.edu/news-article/yale-study-challenges-notion-that-aging-means-decline-finds-many-older-adults-improve-over-time/
