Many associate ageing with different kinds of decline. There’s sarcopenia , or the loss of muscle, frailty , cognitive decline , and bone loss , to name a few. Often, that link can feel inevitable and linear. But new research published in the journal Geriatrics has suggested that’s not always true. Speaking to Yale , the study’s lead author, Dr Becca R. Levy, said: “Many people equate ageing with an inevitable and continuous loss of physical and cognitive abilities. “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 ageing process.” What did the paper find? The researchers followed over 11,000 participants aged 65 and over, involved in the Health & Retirement Study , for 12 years. They used two metrics to track their physical and mental wellness over time. These were a walking speed test – often used as an indicator of people’s overall physical ageing – and a global cognitive test. In the 12 years of follow-up, researchers found that 45% of people improved in at least one of the two factors. Roughly 32% improved cognitively, and 28% improved physically. And when you add people whose cognitive ability stayed the same, “more than half defied the stereotype of inevitable deterioration in cognition,” Yale said . Positive views about ageing seemed to be linked to these results OK, if so many of these participants seemed to get better, rather than the expected worse, over time, what did they do differently? Well, the researchers thought it might have something to do with their attitude towards ageing. And after looking at the data provided, they found that in general, people who had internalised more positive beliefs about ageing were more likely to show improvement in both physical and cognitive capacities after 65. “Our findings suggest there is often a reserve capacity for improvement in later life,” Dr Levy said. “And because age beliefs are modifiable, this opens the door to interventions at both the individual and societal level.” Related... A Full-Body Exercise Is Key To Better Ageing, Says Osteopath Good News For Coffee Lovers: Your Morning Habit Could Be 'Slowing' Your Brain's Ageing It's Official: That Stressful Coworker Or Relative Is Ageing You Faster