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If you feel "old" practically overnight, there may be a good reason for that.

Aging is weird. You're trucking along, enjoying your middle-aged life, finally feeling like a real adult, when you look in the mirror one day and gasp. "Where did those wrinkles come from?" "Is that skin on my arm…crepey?!?" "Why am I aching like that?"

Somewhere in your mid-40s, you start noticing obvious signs of aging that seem to arrive overnight. You assumed it was a gradual process that you just hadn't noticed, but it sure as heck felt like it happened really fast.

New research indicates that may very well be the case. A 2024 study from researchers at Stanford tracked thousands of different molecules in people age 25 to 75 and found that people tend to make two big leaps in aging—one around age 44 and another around age 60. These findings indicate that aging can actually happen in bursts.

 aging, age, old, growing up, growing old, 40s, 60s Simpsons Gif y.yarn.co  

“We’re not just changing gradually over time. There are some really dramatic changes,” said senior study author Michael Snyder, Ph.D., a geneticist and director of the Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine at Stanford University. “It turns out the mid-40s is a time of dramatic change, as is the early 60s. And that’s true no matter what class of molecules you look at.” The researchers assumed the mid-40s changes would be attributed to menopausal or perimenopausal changes in women influencing the overall numbers, but when they separated the results by sex they saw similar changes in men in their 40s.

@suddenly_susan_

The accuracy 🤣 #40s #genxtiktok #womenover40 #relatable

"“This suggests that while menopause or perimenopause may contribute to the changes observed in women in their mid-40s, there are likely other, more significant factors influencing these changes in both men and women. Identifying and studying these factors should be a priority for future research,” said study author Xiaotao Shen, PhD, a former Stanford Medicine postdoctoral scholar who now teaches at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

 elderly couple, aging, age, growing old, aging in bursts Aging happens in bursts, scientists find.Canva Photos

The study included 108 participants who submitted blood and other samples every few months for several years. The scientists tracked age-related changes in 135,000 different molecules—nearly 250 billion distinct data points—to see how aging occurs.

The study may shed light on the reasons for jumps in certain diseases and maladies at certain ages. For the 40-somethings, scientists found significant changes in molecules related to alcohol, caffeine, and lipid metabolism, cardiovascular disease, and skin and muscle. For those in their 60s, changes related to carbohydrate and caffeine metabolism, immune regulation, kidney function, cardiovascular disease, and skin and muscle were found.

 body, human body, anatomy, study, aging Research shows the body goes through specific changes in our 40s and 60s.Canva Photos

The study authors did note that lifestyle might play a role in some of these changes. For instance, alcohol metabolism may be influenced by people drinking more heavily in their 40s, which tends to be a period of higher stress for many people. However, the researchers added that these bursts of aging in the mid-40s and early 60s indicate that people may want to pay closer attention to their health around those ages and make lifestyle changes that support greater overall health, such as increasing exercise or limiting alcohol.

The research team plans to study the drivers of these aging bursts to find out why they happen at these ages, but whatever the reasons, it's nice to know that the seemingly sudden onset of age-related woes isn't just in our imaginations.

It's understandable that we worry about aging, as physical signs of aging remind us of our own mortality. We also have all kinds of social messaging that tells us youth is ideal and beautiful and old is bad and ugly, so of course we give aging the side-eye. But none of us can avoid aging altogether, so the more positive and healthy we are in our approach to aging, the better off we'll be, no matter when and to what degree aging hits us.

This story originally appeared last year. It has been updated.

Health

3-part study on 'Fear of Happiness' reveals a key mistake we all make when we're feeling down

Ever gone digging inside a compliment to see if you could find an insult buried inside?

Sydney Sims/Unsplash

We need to stop doing this to ourselves.

Negative moods have a way of snowballing, of picking up steam and being notoriously difficult to break out of. We know that people who are depressed, show depressive symptoms, or are simply feeling down have a more negative way of viewing things. In fact, it's been argued that adults as a general rule use negative information far more than positive information to learn from or make decisions. This negativity bias permeates much of our lives!

But is it possible that we actively go out of our way to avoid things that might make us feel better? For example, why don't we just look at pictures of puppies, or graciously accept a boost from a compliment offered by a friend? A forthcoming study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology recently put this question to the test.


Chandler sad from FriendsGiphy

There were three parts to the fascinating study out of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

In the first part, participants were presented with a prompt, or the beginning part of a very short story. Psychology Today offers an example: “You are walking to the office. You only have about 5 minutes left of your walk. You are debating whether to stop and buy a coffee when…”

They were then asked to choose between three different endings; a positive one ("You see $10 on the sidewalk"), a neutral ("You see a coffee shop"), and a negative ("You trip and fall on the sidewalk") ending. Not surprisingly, people who had been determined to show depressive symptoms (which is not the same as having clinical depression) were less likely to select the positive ending.

The results were reproduced in the second part of the study, which was the same, except the language in the stories was shifted from “You" to the name of a fictitious other person.

The third part of the study was the most interesting. The negative ending to the story was altered in this round to be objectively wrong according to the details provided in the prompt.


Youre Wrong John C Mcginley GIFGiphy

Here's the example from Susan Krauss Whitbourne, PhD at Psychology Today: “Gary had $30 in his wallet to spend at the mall. He bought a T-shirt for $12, a pair of socks for $5, and a hat for $8. When he reached the cashier, he found that…

… he had $5 remaining in his wallet to buy a small accessory.”

…he didn’t have enough money and had to return one of the items.”

...the t-shirt was $15.”

The first option is inherently 'correct' according to the details of the story. The other two less desirable outcomes require a little mental gymnastics. You have to discard the information you originally received in order to make that version of the story work in your head.

People showing depressive symptoms were still less likely to choose the positive answer, even though it was the only correct one! This indicates that “individuals who are happiness-averse do not merely disregard potential positivity. The presence of positivity inhibits their ability to correctly solve problems," according to the study.

What does it all mean? It means that some people do indeed go out of their way, bending over backwards in some cases, to avoid positive stimulus.

Sad Jimmy Fallon GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonGiphy

Especially people who show depressive symptoms like low energy, low self-esteem, and hopelessness. What's fascinating about this particular study is that those depressive symptoms were identified using something called "Fear of Happiness."

What is "Fear of Happiness"? It’s not just a feeling, it’s actually a thing that can be measured. Also called cherophobia, mental health professionals use the Fear of Happiness Scale, sometimes called the Concerns About Positive Feelings scale, to get a better idea of what their patient is thinking and feeling. It offers questions participants must either Agree or Disagree with to various degrees. Questions include: “I worry that if I feel good something bad might happen," "I feel I don’t deserve to be happy," and "If you feel good, you let your guard down.”

The study indicates that people who are feeling badly may actually be uncomfortable on some level with the thought of feeling better, and may go out of their way to avoid stimuli that might improve their mood. The study’s authors say the results of the study could be useful in how we treat some types of depression. Common therapies often have patient try to reframe negative thoughts into positive ones, but this data says that might not be effective. Some people may have an aversion to positive thoughts and may dismiss them outright.

Of course, when it comes to clinical depression, mindset is only one small part. Regular therapy and even medication may be crucial when it comes to treatment. But I think it’s useful for all of us to know we may have a tendency to do this when our mood, energy, and self-esteem are low, and if we can force ourself to stop turning away from the good things that do come our way, we might be able to feel a lot better, a lot faster.

ArcticDry/Flickr & Unsplash

It's safe to say that cold plunges, or several-minute-long ice baths, are having a moment. Athletes have been using them forever to recover from workouts and rigorous games (the ancient Greeks even liked it!), but at some point in recent years, cold plunging entered the zeitgeist as an everyday therapy for normal people.

Celebrities like Drake and Justin Bieber can be seen submerging themselves in frigid water on social media. Joe Rogan relentlessly evangelizes the benefits of cold plunging to his listeners. Fitness influencers all over the globe are pushing cold plunging as the key to unlocking better results.

What are the benefits of cold plunging? For starters, it reduces inflammation in muscles, which reduces soreness. It also makes you feel absolutely amazing, as the shock of the cold water causes an intense rush of adrenaline and dopamine in the body, creating a sort of natural high that can last for hours. Some experts claim that cold plunges can reduce anxiety and stress, boost metabolism, and even keep you from getting sick!

All that with very little drawbacks, the main one being that hopping neck-deep into 50 degree water is intensely uncomfortable.

ActiveSteve/Flickr

New research out of Ritsumeikan University in Japan is throwing some cold water on the trend. According to the study, a good old fashioned hot bath is a better choice for more people. And more fun, too.

Researchers took a group of 10 men and had them perform high-intensity exercise. Afterwards, one group soaked in a cold tub, one in a hot tub, and one just sat in a normal room as a control.

Not long after their 20-minute soak, the men performed high jumps, and the researchers measured how high they were able to jump.

The three-part study put the men through the rotation several times, so each man had eventually tried the cold tub, hot tub, and control room.

The findings showed that the men who soaked in the hot tub performed the best in the athletic testing afterwards.

Turns out, there's a downside to constricting the blood flow to your muscles and reducing inflammation and soreness. You also block the delivery of key nutrients and rich, oxygenated blood that promotes recovery.

Mamoru Tsuyuki, a master’s student in sports and health science and author of the study, reasoned that cold plunges still have their place when someone's injured or dealing with tremendous soreness. You can see why a Major League pitcher might dunk his arm in ice immediately after a game.

But most normal people don't need to hop into an ice bath after a workout. A hot soak is a lot more comfortable and will probably do a better job of helping those muscles recover quickly. Warmth and better bloodflow will also prioritize building new muscles rather than minimizing soreness.


Peter Thomas/Unsplash

(It's also worth mentioning that, unlike a hot bath, cold plunging can be pretty dangerous. If the water is too cold, you risk going into shock or hypothermia.)

Overall, the scientific community is skeptical at best of the supposed amazing benefits to cold plunging. So why did it get so popular?

The fitness community has a new cold plunge every few years.

For a while, we were sure that High-Intensity Interval Training was THE answer to all your exercise woes. Then it was foam rollers that were going to unlock all of your flexibility and mobility and send your soreness packing. Same with cupping. Then it was the massage gun, the ultimate workout recovery tool. And on and on with Peloton and Bowflex and those vibrating As Seen on TV ab belts.

The truth we don't want to admit is that everybody's body is different, and what works well for one person may not work for us. That's because it's not an easy idea to sell, it's not profitable. No one wants to buy a $5,000 cold plunge set up unless they're convinced it's going to change their life.

So influencers play up the benefits. It's what they do.

Some people love cold plunging, and they have every right to enjoy it! Others find it miserable, and that's OK, too. Cold plunging has legitimate scientific benefits, but it also has drawbacks, dangers, and a whole lot of pseudo-science behind it. It's absolutely OK if you'd rather take a warm bath or soak in the hot tub after a workout.

Now you have scientific evidence in your corner next time someone tries to pressure you into an ice bath. Just say, "Nah, I'm prioritizing bloodflow and muscle recovery today. But you have fun."

Joy

Viewing real art in a museum engages your brain 10x more than looking at reprints, study finds

 A great case for putting down the laptop and experiencing art IRL.

this is your sign to go to an art museum.

We might live in a world where art is easily viewable (simply google “Van Gogh” and you’ll come across a bajillion iterations of Starry Night on posters, purses, coffee mugs, you name it) but anyone who’s ever actually witnessed an original work of art knows on a gut level that it just hits differently.

And now we have some science to prove that it does, in fact, affect us on a neurological level.

Researchers collaborated with the Mauritshuis Museum, which just so happens to be the home of Johannes Vermeer’s heavily reproduced Girl with a Pearl Earring, to study what the difference is between looking at a real painting vs. looking at a reproduction.


Using eye-tracking technology and MRI scans, the researchers recorded the brain activity of 20 volunteers, aged between 21 and 65, who were tasked with looking at the actual artworks and reproductions via posters in the museum's shop or images flashed onto special goggles.

The results were, and the study puts it, “astonishing.”

Findings showed that real paintings elicit an emotional response in the brain that is 10 times stronger than that of their reproduction. Which is “an enormous difference,” Martine Gosselink, director of the Mauritshuis, told The Guardian. “You become [mentally] richer when you see things, whether you are conscious of it or not, because you make connections in your brain.”

There were a few other fun discoveries specifically centered around the Girl with a Pearl Earring painting, which stood out among the five paintings used.

Johannes Vermeer, artGirl with a Pearl Earring, by Johannes Vermeerupload.wikimedia.org

For one, people looked at this painting for the longest, their attention being held in a “Sustained Attentional Loop”

This was partially by Vermeer’s design, as he “cleverly used this mechanism “ with his placement of the pearl earring.

“Normally you automatically look at someone's eyes and mouth. They give you the most information about emotions. When you look at the Girl with the Pearl Earring, something extra happens: you first look at her eyes and mouth and then immediately at her pearl. Then you look back at her eyes and mouth, and then immediately look at the pearl again. And you do that not once, not twice, but several times…You can’t take your eyes off her,” the study says.

Girl with a Pearl Earring also, apparently, stimulated more brain activity in the precuneus, the area of the brain associated with consciousness, self-reflection and personal life experiences, more than any other painting.

Art reproduction is certainly not new, but with the rise of AI art and NTF’s and other trendy tech words, it can be easy to feel like tangible, handcrafted, human made creations will soon be the relic of a bygone era. Which has caused some anguish, to say the least, because again, we all have this hunch that the physical experience of art is what truly impacts us on a cellular level. Thanks to this study, we can really take that hunch seriously.

“We all feel the difference – but is it measurable, is it real?” says Gosselink. “Now, today we can really say that it is true.”

This is your sign to not just scroll through art on Instagram. Find a museum or exhibit and let yourself be affected your brain will thank you.