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While the aging process is a universal phenomenon, people perceive and experience one's aging considerably differently. Subjective age (SA), referring to how individuals experience themselves as younger or older than their actual age, has been highlighted as an important predictor of late-life health outcomes. However, it is unclear whether and how SA is associated with the neurobiological process of aging. In this study, 68 healthy older adults underwent a SA survey and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. T1-weighted brain images of open-access datasets were utilized to construct a model for age prediction. We utilized both voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and age-prediction modeling techniques to explore whether the three groups of SA (i.e., feels younger, same, or older than actual age) differed in their regional gray matter (GM) volumes, and predicted brain age. The results showed that elderly individuals who perceived themselves as younger than their real age showed not only larger GM volume in the inferior frontal gyrus and the superior temporal gyrus, but also younger predicted brain age. Our findings suggest that subjective experience of aging is closely related to the process of brain aging and underscores the neurobiological mechanisms of SA as an important marker of late-life neurocognitive health.
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... 7 Additionally, older adults who perceive themselves as younger exhibit preserved inferior frontal gyrus and superior temporal gyrus volumes. 8 However, studies focusing on older adults remain scarce. Especially, brain regions associated with SI in aging populations are not yet well understood. ...
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Aim Superiority illusion (SI), a cognitive bias where individuals perceive themselves as better than others, may serve as a psychological mechanism that contributes to well‐being and resilience in older adults. However, the specific neural basis of SI in elderly populations remains underexplored. This study aims to identify brain regions partially associated with SI, exploring its potential role in adaptive psychological processes. Methods This study combined a behavioral task, voxel‐based morphometry (VBM), and resting‐state functional connectivity (rsFC) analyses to investigate the neural substrates of the SI in a cohort of 145 participants, including young (n = 84), middle‐aged (n = 37), and older adults (n = 24). Results Our findings indicated that higher SI scores in older adults were correlated with greater gray matter volume in the right precuneus and stronger rsFC between the right precuneus and the left lateral occipital cortex. However, these correlations were not evident in younger and middle‐aged groups. Conclusion Our findings underscore the importance of the right precuneus and its connectivity in the manifestation of the SI, particularly in older adults, highlighting its potential role in adaptive aging processes.
... Stephan et al., 2011)、良好な身体的・認知的機能 (Stephan et al., 2013;2014)などとの関連が強いとしている。つま り、心理学的には SAP は自身の老性規範と社会環境的要 因 と が 関 連 し (Barrett, 2003;Caudroit et al., 2012;Ihara et al., 2015;Kotter-Grühn & Hess, 2012;Schonstein et al., 2023;Takatori et al., 2019)、医学的には、身体的健康や運動機 能に関する自己知覚に左右される(Debreczeni & Bailey, 2021Kleinspehn-Ammerlahn et al., 2008;Kwak et al., 2018;Li et al., 2021;Sabatini et al., 2022 and Social Science, 58, S101-S109. ...
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When asked about their subjective age, middle-aged and older adults generally report that they perceive themselves to be 10-20 % younger than their calendar age. It has been pointed out that it may serve as a convenient indicator of individual wellness among the older adults. This study examined regional and era differences in subjective age perception among the older adults using the Proportional Discrepancy Score (PDS), which is expressed as the ratio of subjective age to calendar age, as an index. In Study 1, we compared the subjective age of 117 urban residents (urban group) and 148 rural residents (rural group) aged 65 years or older. The urban group showed no difference from that of the rural group in PDS values, but there were significant differences in the distribution of PDS sizes. The PDS in the urban group was almost normally distributed around a class perceived to be 10-15 % younger than calendar age, while in the rural group it was distributed around a class not perceived to be younger than calendar age and a class perceived to be 30 % younger. In Study 2, we investigated whether there were any differences in subjective age perception over a 14-year period for 285 residents of the same rural area. As a result, there was a significant difference in PDS values but no difference in the distribution pattern of PDS sizes. This difference was due to a shift in subjective age perception towards younger people over the 14-year period. These results confirmed that subjective age perception is not only an indicator that sensitively reflects the characteristics of the area in which the elderly live but is also influenced by the era in which the elderly lived.
... Reporting a younger subjective age in later life is linked to greater physical performance, less obesity, and fewer chronic diseases (Stephan et al. 2020), as well as higher well-being (Westerhof and Wurm 2018). Notwithstanding its protective effects on cognition (Kwak et al. 2018) and everyday functioning (Wettstein et al. 2021) On the other hand, people who have positive representations of aging tend to be happier, healthier, and live longer. People with a more optimistic perspective on aging also tend to be in better physical and cognitive health, report less depression and negative affect (Heimrich et al. 2022), and show more life satisfaction (Stephan et al. 2020). ...
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Aim: Older age is not a homogenous or stereotypical experience. Age-stereotypical representations can often be disconnected from older people’s own experiences. Challenging the status quo is relevant for aging well. The aim of this study is to analyze older adults’ perspectives on stereotypical versus their own age representations. Method: This qualitative study included a sample of 433 older adults who were 65 to 74, 75 to 84, and 85+ years of age. Content analysis was carried out. Results: Findings from this study indicated that the great majority of the participants (88%) did not identify with stereotypical age representations. This was so among participants in the 65–74 age group in relation to Showing a sense of agency (81.1%); Feeling spiritual (73.4%); Having meaningful goals (72.2%); Holding a significant social network (70.9%); Staying tuned to the world (67.1%); and feeling physically attractive (59.8%). Participants who were 75–84 years of age clarified what physical health (81.0%) and surviving chronic illnesses (78.9%), autonomy (75.5%), being socially active (74.9%), and staying mentally active (70.1%) represent at that age. The +85 years age group drew attention to No pain or physical limitations (95.6%), Physical health (93.1%), Cognitive autonomy (87.1%), Staying tuned to society and the world (76.3%); and Mobility (72.2%). Conclusions: Participants’ favoring their own over stereotypical thinking about people their age represents inner resourcefulness and a penchant for aging well. Collaborative partnerships for sharing such wisdom around could enrich policy programs and interventions that favor inclusivity and fight ageism, fostering a more accurate perspective of what it means to be a certain ‘age’ versus simply being ‘old’.
... These studies indicate that there are certain differences in the experience of subjective age: to simplify things somewhat we can summarise that initially, that is until the mid-twenties we feel older than we really are, but afterwards, from our early forties onwards, we begin to feel younger than our id cards indicate; what is more, the greater the gap between those two values, the older the desired age to which a given person would like to live to is declared (Chopik et al., 2018). This phenomenon is interesting enough to be described in an accessible way by The Atlantic (Senior, 2023) and The New York Times (Laber-Warren, 2019), still its most fascinating aspect relates to the correlation between subjective age and actual brain dexterity -there are first studies suggesting that people who feel younger actually exhibit greater brain health as measured by tests (Kwak et al., 2018). ...
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This article attempts to identify the relationship between memory, time, and environment, and to answer the question of whether (and how) memory can be perceived as a form of human environment. The paper, by elaborating on the already established notions of environmental memory and temporal environments, connects different diagnoses regarding our current temporality (Hartog, Chakrabarty, Malm) with the research on the Remembering-Imagining System (Conway et al.) and indicates that they may be useful to define how collective ris works. Finally, by analysing three different literary examples (Gospodinov, Dukaj, Szczerek), it addresses the question of why does it seemingly become more difficult to understand our temporal environment and imagine our collective future?
... They are also more likely to suffer from chronic or cardiovascular disease, develop psychiatric symptoms, and, moreover, have less favorable brain development and more biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease. The consequences of this ageism cause enormous costs, not least for the healthcare system (Allen, 2016;Kwak et al., 2018;Levy et al., 2002Levy et al., , 2018Levy et al., , 2020. ...
... It is possible that the weak support for hypothesis 2 indicates that young subjective age is much more strongly related to perceptions of mental and physical health [52,85] than to perceived age discrimination in the workplace. In other words, young subjective age reflects more of an actual physical experience of vitality and health, and may even stem more from biological variables such as telomere length and gray matter density in the brain [86,87], than from an effort to defend against social perceptions that perceive older adults as being less valued than younger people. In this context, it may also be possible that the degree of stability in the perception of subjective age is responsible for the perception of age-based discrimination. ...
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Views of aging include peoples’ assessment of their own aging process and their subjective age. Positive aging views relate to good psychological well-being which predicts better physical and mental health. While these were substantially studied, the moderating roles of self-aging attitudes and psychological well-being in the subjective age-age discrimination connection have been much less explored. The current study used a convenience sample of 568 participants (mean = 66.21y, SD = 11.95, age range 50-95), 55.8% women, 67.1% employed. In line with the hypotheses, young subjective age and psychological well-being were connected to less age discrimination in the workplace and higher psychological well-being mitigated the subjective age-age discrimination at work connection. When the perception of old age as a period of loss was added to the model, adults who perceived old age as a period of loss and reported lower levels of psychological well-being, demonstrated the strongest relationship between an increase in subjective age and an increase in age-related discrimination at work. The findings emphasize the importance of the psychological well-being of older employees as a resource for improving their attitudes to their last years at work.
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p style="text-align: justify;">The article deals with the role of a person's subjective age in his psychological well-being. Subjective age is the self—perception of one's own age, it’s a subjective age identification. Foreign and domestic studies convincingly show the predictive role of subjective age in life expectancy, somatic health, regulation of vital activity; countering stress and post-stress disorders, as well. Subjective age becomes an intuitive assessment of a person's own resources, possibilities of their reorganization and integration in threatening situations. This is a flexible psychological mechanism for regulating vital activity. Subjective age is considered as a predictor of successful aging, which is important not only for psychology, but also for economics and social policy. The question of the interrelationship between a person's subjective age and indicators of his psychological well-being remains open. Many scientific papers point to the importance of psychological factors, including subjective age, for psychological well-being. At the same time, several longitudinal studies suggest the opposite: health and well-being may be prerequisites for subjective age.</p
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Views of aging include peoples’ assessment of their own aging process and their subjective age. Positive aging views relate to good psychological well-being which predicts better physical and mental health. While these were substantially studied, the moderating roles of self-aging attitudes and psychological well-being in the subjective age-age discrimination connection have been much less explored. The current study used a convenience sample of 568 participants (mean = 66.21y, SD = 11.95, age range 50-95), 55.8% women, 67.1% employed. In line with the hypotheses, young subjective age and psychological well-being were connected to less age discrimination in the workplace and higher psychological well-being mitigated the subjective age-age discrimination at work connection. When the perception of old age as a period of loss was added to the model, adults who perceived old age as a period of loss and reported lower levels of psychological well-being, demonstrated the strongest relationship between an increase in subjective age and an increase in age-related discrimination at work. The findings emphasize the importance of psy-chological well-being of older employees as a resource for improving their attitudes to their last years at work.
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