Successful Aging

emotional stability. The kid would have been at increased risk for hard drug use, or being killed in a motor vehicle accident while driving drunk. If they survived these increased risks in young adulthood but didn't change their habits, they'd enter middle age with a highly inflated risk of lung cancer from smoking or liver damage from drinking. Even more subtle behaviors can influence outcomes many decades later: Early and compulsive exposure to the sun and sun tanning; poor dental hygiene; poor exercise habits; and obesity all take their toll.
 
One of the pioneers in the relationship between personality and aging is Sarah Hampson, a research scientist at the Oregon Research Institute. As Hampson notes, "Lack of self-control may result in behaviors that increase the probability of exposure to dangerous or traumatic situations and adversely affect health through long-lasting biological consequences of stress." She has found that childhood is a critical period for laying down patterns of behavior with biological effects that endure into adulthood. If you want to live a long and healthy life, it helps to have had the right upbringing. Childhood personality traits, assessed in elementary school, predict a person's lipid levels, blood glucose, and waist size forty years later. These three markers, in turn, predict risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The same childhood traits even predict life span.
 
Although these correlations between early childhood and late adulthood personality are robust, they tell only a part of the story. People age differently, and part of that story has to do with the interaction of genetics, environment, and opportunity (or luck). Scientists developed a mathematical way of tracking personality, comparing traits as they differ across individuals or change within a person over time. With it, we can talk about age-related, culture-related, and medically induced changes in personality, such

Daniel Gilbert, professor of psychology, Harvard University; author of Stumbling on Happiness

If you're planning to age, read this book. Wise, sensitive, and insightful, Levitin shares the tools that allow you to optimize the process. David Eagleman, Stanford University neuroscientist, New York Times bestselling author of The Brain and Incognito
 
Growing old may be the only event in life that is both desired and feared. Daniel Levitin alleviates the fear with sound advice that can tilt the balance so that we have more healthy years and fewer sick ones. The brilliance of this book is that Levitin not only tells us what to do and what not to do he gracefully and eloquently shares the science behind how we can change our minds and brains, and how even small changes can reap large benefits. Share this book especially with anyone you hope to grow old with. Diane Halpern, past president of the American Psychological Association; professor, Claremont-McKenna College

Here is a 'how to' book for everyone's favorite alternative to death aging. Bringing together the fields of developmental psychology and personality theory, Dr. Levitin shows us how to reach old age as the best version of ourselves: engaged, wise, and creative, emotionally resilient, cognitively flexible, and happy. Successful Aging is the fountain of youth, although you don't drink it, you read it. Eric Kaplan, Emmy-winning comedy writer, The Simpsons, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon

This book's breadth is impressive. Excellent popular science in the service of fending off aging. Kirkus Reviews

Levitin's narrative ease is once again on display as he masterfully lays out the evidence that what we thought of as old age is in fact a unique developmental stage in which extraordinary contributions become possible. These years can include challenges, but they can also reach altogether new heights that neuroscientists are just beginning to see. Successful Aging is key to a new era of opportunity and joy. Stanley Prusiner, MD, Nobel Laureate, director of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of California, San Francisco

As always, Dan shows his great facility for pulling together different parts of our field and explaining them in a way that makes them accessible to all. Brenda Milner, at age 101, professor of neurology, McGill University; professor of psychology, Montreal Neurological Institute; winner of the Kavli Prize in neuroscience; founder of the field of neuropsychology

With more and more of the population living longer, Successful Aging is a timely and relevant guide that will appeal to all age groups, giving us the motivation to keep our minds active and engaged. BookPage

Dan Levitin s latest is an inspiring, hopeful, and useful message expounding on the best lessons science and art can teach us about how to expand your potential as you age. Ben Folds, recording artist and New York Times bestselling author of A Dream About Lightning Bugs

In my line of work, good maps are the difference between life and death. Dan s book is an extraordinary 'map' to a place each of us eventually journeys to. In it, he explains and demystifies the aging process in layman s terms. Don t grow old without it. General Stanley McChrystal, U.S. Army (Ret.)

We are living longer than past humans, and with this comes undeniable challenges to our physical and mental well-being. Building on the psychology of personality types and developmental neuroscience, Daniel Levitin will enthrall you with this fascinating story of how the human brain ages, as he reveals just how rewarding our later years can be. Joseph LeDoux, professor of Neural Science, New York University; director of the Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute; author of Anxious and The Deep History of Ourselves
 
Society for too long has underestimated the value of people in their seventies, eighties, and nineties. Working in tandem with younger colleagues, the political, economic, and creative power we can contribute together could well trigger solutions to our biggest global problems. Daniel Levitin superbly defines the new longevity in a book that will change the way you think about aging. Vicente Fox, fifty-fifth president of Mexico
 
A tour through a huge scientific literature, full of potentially life-changing nuggets, and laced with compelling personal experiences. The good news is that aging need not be dreaded but can be a time of health and creativity in the decades beyond seventy and Levitin s got the science to back it up. Read this book. At any age. Michael S. Gazzaniga, director, Sage Center at UC Santa Barbara; author of The Consciousness Instinct
 
This evolving narrative builds as new topics are introduced in reaction to the previous topic, like chord changes in a great piece of music. Levitin's not just offering a compelling narrative but guiding the reader s imagination to a larger view of things and that feels masterful. Mike Lankford, author of Becoming Leonardo

Successful Aging is an ambitious and much-needed call for a 'new truth' about aging in the twenty-first century. Daniel Levitin uses what we know about brain science to make a powerful case for positively transforming how we think about aging. This is a fascinating and vital contribution to doing just that. George Vradenburg, chairman and cofounder, UsAgainstAlzheimer s 

An eloquent spokesperson for our field. Levitin writes about the brain with an ease and familiarity that is captivating. the late David Hubel, Nobel Laureate for work in neuroplasticity

An excellent perspective on aging and aging well. Dan s ability to combine science with personal insights, and reflections on various experiences of aging, captures the complexity of the subject while still being easy to read. This fascinating book is especially important for young adults to understand all the aspects that go into healthy aging and to know that they can influence the outcome, starting at any time. Concetta Tomaino, executive director, Institute for Music and Neurologic Function; associate, Albert Einstein College of Medicine 

Dan is a long-time collaborator with us here at Salk, and in Successful Aging, he offers a compelling new look at the promise and effects of neuroplasticity. He's at his best here, communicating difficult scientific concepts in a way that anyone can understand. This is why his research talks at the Salk Institute are enormously popular, and everyone is abuzz about them for many months afterward. Ursula Bellugi, PhD, director, Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Levitin s book is quite extraordinary, literally. I rarely, if ever, have seen such a rigorous treatment of a health subject. David B. Teplow, professor of neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA;  editor, Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science

Levitin believes the most important factors in predicting how well we might age are conscientiousness, our childhood experiences, exercise (especially outdoors), and social interactions. His most sage suggestion, nestled at the end of the book, is timeless: Practice gratitude for what you have. Booklist