This video definitely shows exactly what we have been talking about in class in terms of happiness and longevity, and everything that goes along with it. These women in the nun study seem to possess many of the qualities that studies have suggested can lead to better quality of life and greater longevity; they all lead active lives, mentally and physically, by exercising and doing things like puzzles and knitting. They are all also active in religion and faith, which can lead to an extended life span, and they are all part of a very large, strong, supportive social network of people. All of these things seem like strong evidence that explains why these nuns have lived so long and continue to be healthy so late into their lives. I thought it was interesting that some of the nuns had Alzheimer's disease, but few, if any, showed symptoms of the disease. This is something else that suggests that happiness can lead to longevity and good health.
I also find it interesting that many showed Alzheimer's in there brain but did not exhibit symptoms. I think this study can do bounds of good in psychology. If we can take each hypothesis and look at them individually in other populations while looking for resistance to Alzh. Dis. we may be able to discover the major contributing agent. It could be the additive nature of all the theories given in Lorraine's post. On a side note it could be something unseen. A certain diet, a environmental cause or some other unknown factor. It is promising to positive and neuro scientists alike. It is amazing that they ladies donated their brains. There are many who would resist doing such a thing for countless reasons, religion being one of them.
I have been looking into this subject and I am wondering what they mean by finding Alzheimer's in the brain. Alzheimer's is usually diagnosed by symptoms without symptoms is there really Alzheimer's. It is true they have found a correlation between Tau breakdown in the mircotubules but I am not sure they have definitively found it to be the cause.
I think there are a couple things going on with these nuns. The first is that everybody has a certain amount of stress in their lives. Nuns have eliminated alot of these. Common stressors might be paying bills, having a romantic relationship, children and dealing with the lessons life gives you. The nuns don't have any of these.They live a very safe, submissive lifestyle. Everything is taken care of for them including a rigid belief system. They are like well preserved children. The second thing that is happening is that they are connected. When a group of people who are doing something positive come together part of them merges. Musicians might call it vibe or mojo, in business school they called it synergy, I am not sure what science calls it, if anything. At the same time when a group of people come together and there is a negative person, then you get dysfunction and the negativity sometimes takes over. Think of the riot after a sports game. As far as the physical dementia showing up in some of their brains and not having any behavioral symptoms, maybe Jung had a valid point with his concept of a universal consciousness. To sum it up, I think being positive can promote longevity and managing stress (like the submissive, safe lifestyle of nuns) can also promote wellness.
Throughout their whole lives, these nuns have maintained a healthy, positive lifestyle. This has been done through constant mental and physical engagement. In their later years, the nuns use puzzles, knitting, and personal interactions to keep their minds active (obviously, along with many other activities). Although this study proves a positive correlation between happiness, positivity, and longevity, it’s still done in a controlled environment. I find it hard to believe that the average person will be able to maintain a positive mental state during the everyday "stressors" these nuns don’t face in the nunnery. Overall, this study is great in the way it demonstrates that happiness can lead to a positive, healthy, long life.
If there was a way to figure out what those nuns are doing so differently, we can potentially help people with altimeters. I wonder if it has to do with their religious faith. People who are religious put a lot on god. Things that people would normally stress about they would just say "it was gods way" or that "its in gods hands", pretty much putting it off and letting whatever happens happen. They have someone helping them cope with their problems that others dont have.
I found this video to be particularly interesting for the fact that it highlights the importance of living a healthy, supportive lifestyle, and how having a sense of community and belongingness (belonging to a religion as well as a physical group of people who all share similar ideologies) can increase one's overall feeling of well-being.
As far as keeping the mind and body active goes, I believe a lot can be said with the type of lifestyle we live nowadays. It could be suggested that the nuns lived in a time period where it was customary to be active in their daily lives in a way that today's society is not accustomed to. We see less time being spent on activities outdoors (whether it be playing sports, or playing with the neighborhood kids, etc), and increasing amounts of time spent sitting in front of a computer, or TV screen, or social networking website. I would guess that as opposed to the generation of today, all of the ladies were relatively active in their younger years, so transferring that willingness to keep the body and mind moving was less of a challenge.
That being said, I also suspect there were a variety of other factors that played into their abilities to live out long, prosperous lives. One factor may be that the the nuns lived relatively healthy lives in the sense that they did not have any serious psychical or psychological ailments weighing them down. Because the mind and body are intrinsically connected, it seems reasonable to suggest that the ladies must have maintained heightened states of physical health, while balancing their mental/emotional well-being as well.
With today's society placing less value in activities that promote well-being, such as face-to-face communication, and time spent outdoors, I will not be surprised if we see increasing rates of Alzheimer's and dementia in years to come.
From a research position this video seemingly provides evidence for the effects of having a positively focused life. The groups are about equal in every way, including life events experienced.
But it also ties into the ideas of Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic religious orientations. A person with an intrinsic orientation is less likely to experience stress because they are performing an activity for their own enjoyment rather then performing the activity out of command, duty, or what they get out of the activity.
As for the health effects seen in the nuns overall. I would suspect part of it's because they have less stressors overall as compared to a population outside of a convent. They are able to live lives dedicated to their god and their ambitions. They also have a supportive community full of unconditional positive regard, and they are encouraged to keep themselves active.
The Nun study video offers some compelling information but I feel I need some more information about what is meant by some women had "normal" functioning brains but all displayed full blown Alzheimer's. I can understand that by developing the brain earlier in life and maintaining function may reduce the risk for Alzheimer's. However what I don't understand is are they saying that people with active minds have lower risks of getting Alzheimer's or displaying the symptoms of Alzheimer's?
I think this study offers for a great opportunity to study a group of so called "super nuns" that all had similar upbringings, genes, and an active giving lifestyle. I think we all have the potential to live long and active lives but the truth is we have a poor follow through rate. These Nuns live lives that are pre-planned from day to day, in the sense that they live supported lifestyles that constantly encourage activity and stimulation.
There are several factors that play a role in this study and I think Dr. David Snowden is doing important research that can help influence people to live a full life and can hopefully help with the Alzheimer's rate. I am curious to see what other data is gathered from this study.
I think this video is very interesting and it pushes forth the idea that these nun's live such a long and healthy life because they are happy and postiive. Can we say this is the only factor? It may be the healthy lifestyle, with exercise, healthy eating habits, and less worries than most people in the world. Though I think a major factor is positivity. It can be argued that its not what allows these nuns to live such a long healthy life but I think that since all of them seem to have such a high rate of living longer that it does seem to be a factor.
This study I think would go well with other studies of monks and other types of societies in the world with less stress and more positivity. With people that live in communities where things are very ritual based and tend to spend their days the same. I think this looking into other groups or societys and comparing those results to that of this study would make for a greater argument.
This video makes me want to have the nuns show me how to work out, eat right, and keep my brain active so that I can live a longer life. I think this definately gets people thinking about the ways in which they live their life and possibly how changing it could be a benefit.
I believe that the positivity that these nuns experience is a huge factor in their longevity. I found it to be extremely interesting how large of a difference the nuns with a positive attitude had from those who had a more negative attitude. I would be interested to see how large of a difference those nuns with a positive attitude had as opposed to non-nuns with a positive attitude. I believe that the nuns would still live longer because of their controlled yet active lifestyle.
I think this video showed a really interesting case study that was done on a particular group of women who lived in a similar environment following similar daily regimens and lifestyles. A lot of the the links between the nun's longevity and lifestyles relates to a lot research in the fields of positive psychology and health psychology. Living a healthy lifestyle that is active both physically and mentally with a positive outlook on life along with strong social support and community support and religious practice are all variables/behaviors shown to promote health. The nuns are a perfect example of all this healthy well-rounded lifestyle that has allowed them long lives with good health late into life. Alzheimer's disease is a prominent disease in our generation so I believe it is important to understand it better. It is extremely interesting the nuns actually had the disease shown by brain scans, but did not exhibit any of the symptoms such as mental and physical degeneration. These particular lifestyle habits and choices have given the nuns strength in their minds and bodies enough avoid the degenerative affects from a disease?
A lot of people have mentioned the "positive attitude" of the nuns. The video is, after all, for the purposes of a newscast. Is it possible that the only nun interviews which made the final cut were with nuns who had a positive attitude, and that nuns exist in that environment who are more pessimistic? Of course.
I agree with Christina Valeriani - the factors stated are not the only factors which could be impacting the nuns' longevity. The video specifically mentions mental and physical activity, faith, higher education early in life, and a strong community as influencing factors. Justin said, "... the groups are about equal in every way." But there's only one group! We have only the general population against which to compare this data. The factors above noted are clearly not the only ones influencing these nuns' lives. As Jim M____y said, they have "eliminated stressors." This may or may not be true. While eliminating the stresses of the day-to-day toil experienced by most, have the nuns not spent much energy devoted to the toil experienced by humanity?
I find it interesting that the video does not address the potential value of altruism. The nuns have already given their lives to God and their fellow human beings; in an ultimate gesture of altruism, they have donated their very brains to science. It seems they have managed to extend the Eriksonian dilemma of Generativity vs. Stagnation to a greater chronological age than Erikson envisioned. Does this extreme altruism play a role in their longevity? More comparative studies are clearly necessary before conclusions can be drawn.
We can assume people of religious faith especially nuns, typically have a positive attitude towards life. However this video mostly attributes the lack of behavioral symptoms of Alzhiemers to keeping their brains active through out old age, and maintaining a social life. There could be many factors effecting these women and their lack of symptoms, perhaps diet or having a very repetitious lifestyle. I agree with josieda, more studies need to be done, with different types of communities.
I found it interesting that they attributed longevity, not only to happiness, but also to education and a better developed brain in early ages. Having a higher education showed that the elderly were better able to fight off degenerative diseases. It was also interesting to me to see that about half of the nuns who had donated their brains to research had Alzheimers disease but never showed any symptoms. This is synonomous with the old phrase "use it or lose it" which appears to be true when it comes to brain function in the later stages of life.
16 comments:
This video definitely shows exactly what we have been talking about in class in terms of happiness and longevity, and everything that goes along with it. These women in the nun study seem to possess many of the qualities that studies have suggested can lead to better quality of life and greater longevity; they all lead active lives, mentally and physically, by exercising and doing things like puzzles and knitting. They are all also active in religion and faith, which can lead to an extended life span, and they are all part of a very large, strong, supportive social network of people. All of these things seem like strong evidence that explains why these nuns have lived so long and continue to be healthy so late into their lives. I thought it was interesting that some of the nuns had Alzheimer's disease, but few, if any, showed symptoms of the disease. This is something else that suggests that happiness can lead to longevity and good health.
I also find it interesting that many showed Alzheimer's in there brain but did not exhibit symptoms. I think this study can do bounds of good in psychology. If we can take each hypothesis and look at them individually in other populations while looking for resistance to Alzh. Dis. we may be able to discover the major contributing agent. It could be the additive nature of all the theories given in Lorraine's post. On a side note it could be something unseen. A certain diet, a environmental cause or some other unknown factor. It is promising to positive and neuro scientists alike. It is amazing that they ladies donated their brains. There are many who would resist doing such a thing for countless reasons, religion being one of them.
Jonathan Bellino
I have been looking into this subject and I am wondering what they mean by finding Alzheimer's in the brain. Alzheimer's is usually diagnosed by symptoms without symptoms is there really Alzheimer's. It is true they have found a correlation between Tau breakdown in the mircotubules but I am not sure they have definitively found it to be the cause.
Jonathan Bellino
I think there are a couple things going on with these nuns. The first is that everybody has a certain amount of stress in their lives. Nuns have eliminated alot of these. Common stressors might be paying bills, having a romantic relationship, children and dealing with the lessons life gives you. The nuns don't have any of these.They live a very safe, submissive lifestyle. Everything is taken care of for them including a rigid belief system. They are like well preserved children.
The second thing that is happening is that they are connected. When a group of people who are doing something positive come together part of them merges. Musicians might call it vibe or mojo, in business school they called it synergy, I am not sure what science calls it, if anything. At the same time when a group of people come together and there is a negative person, then you get dysfunction and the negativity sometimes takes over. Think of the riot after a sports game.
As far as the physical dementia showing up in some of their brains and not having any behavioral symptoms, maybe Jung had a valid point with his concept of a universal consciousness.
To sum it up, I think being positive can promote longevity and managing stress (like the submissive, safe lifestyle of nuns) can also promote wellness.
Throughout their whole lives, these nuns have maintained a healthy, positive lifestyle. This has been done through constant mental and physical engagement. In their later years, the nuns use puzzles, knitting, and personal interactions to keep their minds active (obviously, along with many other activities). Although this study proves a positive correlation between happiness, positivity, and longevity, it’s still done in a controlled environment. I find it hard to believe that the average person will be able to maintain a positive mental state during the everyday "stressors" these nuns don’t face in the nunnery. Overall, this study is great in the way it demonstrates that happiness can lead to a positive, healthy, long life.
Nick Randall
If there was a way to figure out what those nuns are doing so differently, we can potentially help people with altimeters. I wonder if it has to do with their religious faith. People who are religious put a lot on god. Things that people would normally stress about they would just say "it was gods way" or that "its in gods hands", pretty much putting it off and letting whatever happens happen. They have someone helping them cope with their problems that others dont have.
I found this video to be particularly interesting for the fact that it highlights the importance of living a healthy, supportive lifestyle, and how having a sense of community and belongingness (belonging to a religion as well as a physical group of people who all share similar ideologies) can increase one's overall feeling of well-being.
As far as keeping the mind and body active goes, I believe a lot can be said with the type of lifestyle we live nowadays. It could be suggested that the nuns lived in a time period where it was customary to be active in their daily lives in a way that today's society is not accustomed to. We see less time being spent on activities outdoors (whether it be playing sports, or playing with the neighborhood kids, etc), and increasing amounts of time spent sitting in front of a computer, or TV screen, or social networking website. I would guess that as opposed to the generation of today, all of the ladies were relatively active in their younger years, so transferring that willingness to keep the body and mind moving was less of a challenge.
That being said, I also suspect there were a variety of other factors that played into their abilities to live out long, prosperous lives. One factor may be that the the nuns lived relatively healthy lives in the sense that they did not have any serious psychical or psychological ailments weighing them down. Because the mind and body are intrinsically connected, it seems reasonable to suggest that the ladies must have maintained heightened states of physical health, while balancing their mental/emotional well-being as well.
With today's society placing less value in activities that promote well-being, such as face-to-face communication, and time spent outdoors, I will not be surprised if we see increasing rates of Alzheimer's and dementia in years to come.
-Bianca Sturchio
From a research position this video seemingly provides evidence for the effects of having a positively focused life. The groups are about equal in every way, including life events experienced.
But it also ties into the ideas of Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic religious orientations. A person with an intrinsic orientation is less likely to experience stress because they are performing an activity for their own enjoyment rather then performing the activity out of command, duty, or what they get out of the activity.
As for the health effects seen in the nuns overall. I would suspect part of it's because they have less stressors overall as compared to a population outside of a convent. They are able to live lives dedicated to their god and their ambitions. They also have a supportive community full of unconditional positive regard, and they are encouraged to keep themselves active.
-Justin Roux
The Nun study video offers some compelling information but I feel I need some more information about what is meant by some women had "normal" functioning brains but all displayed full blown Alzheimer's. I can understand that by developing the brain earlier in life and maintaining function may reduce the risk for Alzheimer's. However what I don't understand is are they saying that people with active minds have lower risks of getting Alzheimer's or displaying the symptoms of Alzheimer's?
I think this study offers for a great opportunity to study a group of so called "super nuns" that all had similar upbringings, genes, and an active giving lifestyle. I think we all have the potential to live long and active lives but the truth is we have a poor follow through rate. These Nuns live lives that are pre-planned from day to day, in the sense that they live supported lifestyles that constantly encourage activity and stimulation.
There are several factors that play a role in this study and I think Dr. David Snowden is doing important research that can help influence people to live a full life and can hopefully help with the Alzheimer's rate. I am curious to see what other data is gathered from this study.
-Lauren Goudreau
I think this video is very interesting and it pushes forth the idea that these nun's live such a long and healthy life because they are happy and postiive. Can we say this is the only factor? It may be the healthy lifestyle, with exercise, healthy eating habits, and less worries than most people in the world. Though I think a major factor is positivity. It can be argued that its not what allows these nuns to live such a long healthy life but I think that since all of them seem to have such a high rate of living longer that it does seem to be a factor.
This study I think would go well with other studies of monks and other types of societies in the world with less stress and more positivity. With people that live in communities where things are very ritual based and tend to spend their days the same. I think this looking into other groups or societys and comparing those results to that of this study would make for a greater argument.
This video makes me want to have the nuns show me how to work out, eat right, and keep my brain active so that I can live a longer life. I think this definately gets people thinking about the ways in which they live their life and possibly how changing it could be a benefit.
I believe that the positivity that these nuns experience is a huge factor in their longevity. I found it to be extremely interesting how large of a difference the nuns with a positive attitude had from those who had a more negative attitude. I would be interested to see how large of a difference those nuns with a positive attitude had as opposed to non-nuns with a positive attitude. I believe that the nuns would still live longer because of their controlled yet active lifestyle.
Chelsea Craig
I think this video showed a really interesting case study that was done on a particular group of women who lived in a similar environment following similar daily regimens and lifestyles. A lot of the the links between the nun's longevity and lifestyles relates to a lot research in the fields of positive psychology and health psychology. Living a healthy lifestyle that is active both physically and mentally with a positive outlook on life along with strong social support and community support and religious practice are all variables/behaviors shown to promote health. The nuns are a perfect example of all this healthy well-rounded lifestyle that has allowed them long lives with good health late into life. Alzheimer's disease is a prominent disease in our generation so I believe it is important to understand it better. It is extremely interesting the nuns actually had the disease shown by brain scans, but did not exhibit any of the symptoms such as mental and physical degeneration. These particular lifestyle habits and choices have given the nuns strength in their minds and bodies enough avoid the degenerative affects from a disease?
Jessica Hews
A lot of people have mentioned the "positive attitude" of the nuns. The video is, after all, for the purposes of a newscast. Is it possible that the only nun interviews which made the final cut were with nuns who had a positive attitude, and that nuns exist in that environment who are more pessimistic? Of course.
I agree with Christina Valeriani - the factors stated are not the only factors which could be impacting the nuns' longevity. The video specifically mentions mental and physical activity, faith, higher education early in life, and a strong community as influencing factors. Justin said, "... the groups are about equal in every way." But there's only one group! We have only the general population against which to compare this data. The factors above noted are clearly not the only ones influencing these nuns' lives. As Jim M____y said, they have "eliminated stressors." This may or may not be true. While eliminating the stresses of the day-to-day toil experienced by most, have the nuns not spent much energy devoted to the toil experienced by humanity?
I find it interesting that the video does not address the potential value of altruism. The nuns have already given their lives to God and their fellow human beings; in an ultimate gesture of altruism, they have donated their very brains to science. It seems they have managed to extend the Eriksonian dilemma of Generativity vs. Stagnation to a greater chronological age than Erikson envisioned. Does this extreme altruism play a role in their longevity? More comparative studies are clearly necessary before conclusions can be drawn.
We can assume people of religious faith especially nuns, typically have a positive attitude towards life. However this video mostly attributes the lack of behavioral symptoms of Alzhiemers to keeping their brains active through out old age, and maintaining a social life. There could be many factors effecting these women and their lack of symptoms, perhaps diet or having a very repetitious lifestyle. I agree with josieda, more studies need to be done, with different types of communities.
Gina Marmanik
I found it interesting that they attributed longevity, not only to happiness, but also to education and a better developed brain in early ages. Having a higher education showed that the elderly were better able to fight off degenerative diseases. It was also interesting to me to see that about half of the nuns who had donated their brains to research had Alzheimers disease but never showed any symptoms. This is synonomous with the old phrase "use it or lose it" which appears to be true when it comes to brain function in the later stages of life.
-Christi L
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