[smart (OP)]

Is it possible to reverse aging by adopting a positive mental attitude in life? Personally, i don't feel like I'm 35 years old, and still enjoy to play video games. Furthermore, I believe aging is strongly influenced by our psychological attitude, and that aging is mostly a mental phenomenon. Do peoples who adopt a childish lifestyle can reverse aging ?

What do you think?

[Kryptid]

I do imagine that chronic stress could aggravate the effects of aging, but you're not going to actually reverse aging just by adopting a positive attitude.

[jeffreyH]

No.

[chris]

I agree with @Kryptid insomuch that people with a lot of control over their lives and jobs tend to age better, statistically, than people lower down the pecking order. So psychology and mental fortitude as well as education and attainment do play a role. But that aside, the idea that you can think yourself younger is a delusion.

[evan_au]

You may think of yourself as just a teenager with lots of practice - but our brains play tricks on us. All your experiences are subtly melded into our worldview, and our memories and attitudes are continuously being rewritten without us being aware of the process.

For a reality check, just try repeating some of the physical feats you achieved as a teenager - you will probably find that your biology can't keep up with your physics.

...just don't do yourself any injuries trying!

I, for one, would not like to become a teenager again! Too much angst!

[alancalverd]

It works both ways. I have been 25 since I was 16. Like all old rockers, the older we get, the better we were, though I'll admit to having played my last game of rugby on my 60th birthday. Computer games are only played by senile masochists.

[smart (OP)]

Computer games are only played by senile masochists.

Thats quite rude. Did you know that playing video games is a easy way to promote neuroplasticity?

[alancalverd]

Repeating the same action in the hope of getting a different result was Einstein's definition of insanity. You can't beat a computer because it has no sense of loss or desire to win: the best you can do is to effectively decode someone else's algorithm. Computer simulations, like barbells and scrum machines,  are useful for training but anything that doesn't map to reality is completely pointless.

I would be interested to see the results of neuroplasticity measurements on identical twins who had been differentially exposed to computer games. Learning several languages takes less time and produces a useful, if not measurable, result.

[smart (OP)]

But that aside, the idea that you can think yourself younger is a delusion.

It's more than an idea; It's a state of mind. Your mental attitude in life can influence many physiological processes related to aging.
The trick is to not bother with aging and concentrate on things having a positive influence on your mental status.

[evan_au]

Learning several languages takes less time and produces a useful, if not measurable, result.

I'm currently trying to learn some basic Greek and Italian.
I hope to measure it by the number of times I can say something useful, instead of being dumbstruck in another country.
Any impact on the speed of aging would be a welcome side-effect.

[alancalverd]

It's the key to a balanced lifestyle. Reading a menu or ordering a beer with confidence in a foreign country conveys a great feeling of maturity, and getting your face slapped reminds you that you are still young enough to get into trouble and enjoy it.

[chris]

I'm currently trying to learn some basic Greek and Italian.

Retsina, Asti, Moussaka, Spaghetti... that should do it.

[evan_au]

I'm currently trying to learn some basic Greek...

My initial knowledge of Greek came from studying maths at high school, followed by a bit of koine Greek.

I notice that modern Greek reverses some of the sounds compared to "maths Greek".

In maths Greek, θ is called "theta" and represents the sound "th" in English. δ is called "delta" and represents the sound "d" in English.

But these sounds seem to be reversed in modern Greek. So the number "2" we would call "duo" in maths Greek, but it sounds like "theo" in modern Greek (to my ears). There are other examples like "deca" for "10" comes out as "theca", and other sounds that diverge from maths Greek.

However, Chemistry comes in handy with chemical names like pentane (5 carbons), octane (8 carbons) and allotrope (other shapes), while Maths is useful for words like icosohedron (20 sides) and tesseract (4 dimensions).
 
It's all Greek to me...

[chris]

It's all Greek to me...

You beat me to it!

[chris]

Meanwhile, back to the OP;

Here are some references to stories we have covered recently on ageing:

• https://www.thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/short/can-brain-training-slow-progression-alzheimers
• https://www.thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/question-week/can-we-exercise-our-brain-improve-difficult-mental-tasks
• https://www.thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/naked-neuroscience/remembering-live-ripe-old-age
• https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/science-features/how-exercise-benefits-brain

[evan_au]

PS: During the week I mentioned that I was trying to learn some basic words in Greek, and someone said "Isn't there an app for that?".

Yesterday I downloaded a translation app to my phone.

• If you have an internet connection, it can do speech-to-speech translation
• or translate a photo of text, using resources "in the cloud".
• If you don't have an internet connection, it can do text-to-text translation, with you and another person typing on your device in their own language.

I downloaded translation modules for the 3 language zones I will be visiting; I had only been trying to learn vocabulary for two of them.

No wonder people don't try to think any more!

[smart (OP)]

No wonder people don't try to think any more!

The idea is that younger people may preserve their mental and cognitive abilities by living freely and having a positive attitude.
In contrast, older people have excessive obligations which seem to exponentially increase the aging process.