Why grandparents matter more than ever for children's mental health

 With more than 40% of U.S. teenagers reporting ongoing feelings of sadness or hopelessness, one child psychologist believes grandparents may be an important part of the solution.

Kenneth Barish, Ph.D., Clinical Professor of Psychology at Weill Cornell Medicine, says the decline of extended family involvement has helped fuel what the U.S. Surgeon General has described as a continuing crisis in child and adolescent mental health.

"We did not evolve to raise children with as little extended family and community support as most American parents have now," says Dr. Barish, a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. "Children need grandparents, and they always have."

In his new book, The Art and Science of Parenting and Grandparenting, Dr. Barish draws on 40 years of clinical experience, as well as findings from neuroscience, child development studies, and educational programs, to argue that grandparents can play a meaningful role in helping families navigate today's parenting challenges.

Why Purpose Matters for Children's Well-Being

According to Dr. Barish, grandparents can help counter a cultural trend that has increasingly emphasized individual achievement over community and connection.

"Over several decades, America has increasingly become a society of I, not We. In many families and communities, preoccupation with individual achievement has eroded the values of kindness and caring in the lives of our children," he explains.

Research has linked intense achievement pressure to elevated rates of anxiety, depression, and substance abuse, particularly in affluent communities. Dr. Barish argues that children need a stronger sense of purpose that extends beyond personal accomplishments.

"Individual achievement alone is a fragile source of motivation and effort, with a high cost in anxiety and stress," Dr. Barish writes. "Helping others promotes a greater balance in children's emotional lives."

Evidence reviewed by psychologist Jane Piliavin found that helping others is associated with higher self-esteem, lower rates of depression, reduced school dropout rates, improved immune function, and even longer life expectancy.

To encourage these benefits, Dr. Barish recommends volunteering as a family and regularly talking with children, beginning at a young age, about kindness, empathy, and understanding other people's feelings and needs.

He explains: "These conversations strengthen a child's sense of meaning and purpose. They are just as important as making sure kids have done their homework and correcting their mistakes, maybe more."

How Grandparents Support Children's Mental Health

Dr. Barish says grandparents offer more than practical support for parents. They also provide what he describes as 'molecules of emotional health', small but meaningful moments of encouragement, attention, and understanding that help strengthen children's 'emotional immune systems'.

"A child's confident expectation that someone will listen and understand is the best protection against the emotional pathogens they will experience throughout their childhood. "More than anything else, children need someone in their life who listens, who helps them feel less alone, and who teaches them that problems can be solved, relationships can be repaired, and bad feelings do not last forever," Dr. Barish explains.

He also highlights the importance of play, shared enjoyment, and showing genuine enthusiasm for children's interests and goals. These positive interactions can help build emotional resilience and strengthen family relationships.

The Hidden Harm of Excessive Criticism

One of the most common parenting challenges Dr. Barish encounters is not too much praise, but too much criticism.

In his clinical work, he has found that well-intentioned family members often underestimate the negative effects of frequent criticism.

"The most common problem I see in my work with families is not too much praise, but too much criticism," Dr. Barish states.

"Criticism does not motivate children to work harder. Instead, frequent criticism breeds resentment and defiance, and undermines children's initiative and effort."

At the same time, he notes that not all praise is equally beneficial. Drawing on Carol Dweck's concept of a "growth mindset," he encourages adults to focus praise on effort and learning rather than innate ability.

"Praise effort, not intelligence or talent. Praise learning, not grades."

Building Confidence Through Conversation

Dr. Barish acknowledges that raising children often involves managing difficult behavior. In his book, he outlines 21 principles designed to encourage cooperation, based on both scientific research and decades of clinical experience.

Among his recommendations are involving children in collaborative problem solving and giving them opportunities to 'reset', an approach he believes works better than punishment.

Ultimately, Dr. Barish argues that helping children thrive depends less on teaching specific skills and more on fostering emotional strength, confidence, and meaningful relationships.

Dr. Barish explains: "Helping our children and grandchildren succeed in life is less about teaching skills and more about having conversations; less about earning rewards and more about learning to cope with painful feelings; less about clearing a path to success and more about strengthening an inner feeling of confidence and pride. Our children will then work harder, bounce back more quickly, show more caring and kindness toward others, and pursue interests with greater enthusiasm, commitment, and sense of purpose."

Source: ScienceDaily

Why middle age is becoming a breaking point in the U.S.

 For many Americans, middle age is becoming more challenging than it was for previous generations. People born in the 1960s and early 1970s report higher levels of loneliness and depression, along with poorer memory and reduced physical strength compared with those who came before them.

What makes this trend especially notable is that it is not happening to the same extent in many other wealthy countries. In several peer nations, particularly in Nordic Europe, health and well-being during midlife have improved over time rather than declined.

To understand why the United States appears to be moving in a different direction, psychologist Frank J. Infurna of Arizona State University and his colleagues examined survey data from 17 countries.

"The real midlife crisis in America isn't about lifestyle choices or sports cars. It's about juggling work, finances, family, and health amid weakening social supports," Infurna said. "The data make this clear."

The study, published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, points to several factors that may be driving these differences and suggests possible ways to improve outcomes.

Family Support Policies and Loneliness

One key distinction between the United States and many European countries involves support for families.

Since the early 2000s, European nations have increased spending on family benefits, while spending in the U.S. has remained largely unchanged. Compared with Europe, the United States offers fewer programs such as cash assistance for families with children, income support during parental leave, and subsidized childcare.

These policies can have a meaningful impact on people in midlife, who are often balancing careers while raising children and caring for aging parents.

The researchers found that adults in countries with stronger family support systems reported lower levels of loneliness and experienced smaller increases in loneliness over time. In contrast, loneliness among Americans continued to rise across generations.

Health Care Costs Add to the Pressure

The study also points to health care as an important factor.

Although the United States spends more on health care than any other wealthy country, Americans often face greater challenges when it comes to access and affordability. Higher out-of-pocket expenses can strain household finances, discourage preventive medical care, and increase stress, anxiety, and medical debt, according to the authors.

The Role of Income Inequality

Growing income inequality may also help explain why U.S. midlife outcomes differ from those in other countries.

Since the early 2000s, income inequality has increased in the United States, while remaining stable or declining in much of Europe. Previous work by Infurna found that higher levels of inequality are associated with poorer health and greater loneliness among middle-aged adults.

Other research has shown that inequality can increase poverty, reduce opportunities to move up the SES ladder, and limit access to education, employment, and social services. Those disadvantages can ultimately affect both physical and mental health.

Cultural Differences and Financial Vulnerability

The researchers say cultural factors may play a role as well.

Americans are more likely to move frequently and live farther away from family members, making it harder to maintain long-term relationships and caregiving networks.

Economic conditions may also be contributing to the problem. Compared with earlier generations, more recent groups of middle-aged Americans have accumulated less wealth and face greater financial insecurity. Wage stagnation and the effects of the Great Recession are among the reasons cited by the researchers.

In many European countries, stronger social safety nets appear to have helped shield middle-aged adults from some of the negative health consequences associated with economic hardship.

Source: ScienceDaily

Scientists found an early depression clue hidden in children’s eyes

 A smile. A frown. The facial expressions that capture a child's attention may reveal important clues about their mental health.

New research from Binghamton University, State University of New York, suggests that depression can influence how children respond to emotional faces, including happy and sad expressions. The study also found that these attention patterns differ depending on whether a child has a family history of depression.

Researchers at Binghamton University's Mood Disorders Institute focus on understanding how depression develops during childhood and adolescence. They investigate how factors such as family history and emotional experiences contribute to future depression risk. By identifying these patterns early, scientists hope to improve efforts to recognize and prevent depression before it becomes more severe.

"Most of the vulnerabilities that we focus on are still developing during this time period," said Brandon Gibb, director of the Mood Disorders Institute and SUNY distinguished professor of psychology. "You can catch things as they're developing, rather than only studying them once they're already there and pretty stable."

How Depression and Attention Influence Each Other

Earlier research has linked depression to greater attention toward sad facial expressions. However, those effects have generally been small, and researchers have not known whether these attention patterns contribute to depression or result from it.

The new study is the first to examine how depressive symptoms and attention biases may influence one another over time in children.

"The real novel piece is that we looked at these transactional relations," said Kelly Gair, a PhD student at Binghamton and lead author of the paper. "Between attentional biases and depressive symptoms, we looked at the way that they were mutually predicting one another across the time points, which is especially novel and hasn't been done before."

To investigate these relationships, Gair, Gibb, and collaborator Leslie A. Brick from the University of New Mexico followed 242 children and their mothers for two years. Participants returned every six months for assessments.

During each visit, children viewed pairs of faces on a screen. One face displayed a neutral expression, while the other showed an emotional expression (happy, sad, or angry). Eye tracking technology measured which faces attracted the children's attention and how long they focused on them.

Children in the study looked at faces conveying different emotions onscreen, and eye-tracking technology recorded where their attention veered. Photo credit: NimStim Set of Facial Expressions (Tottenham et al., 2009).

Family History Shapes Attention to Emotional Faces

The findings showed that increasing depressive symptoms affected children's attention differently depending on their family background.

Among children whose mothers had a history of major depressive disorder, growing depressive symptoms were associated with increased attention to sad faces.

"For those who are already at risk, the more these children experience depression themselves, the more they lose their ability to pull their attention away from the sad things around them," Gibb said.

Gair noted that depression can have a powerful influence on what people notice in their environment.

"We know that when you're depressed, it changes what you pay attention to," Gair said. "Our results suggest that these changes may be more long-lasting and may differ depending on family history. One thought is that for children of mothers with depression, who are exposed to more facial displays of sadness from interactions with their mom, these types of facial expressions become even more salient when they experience depression themselves, so their attention becomes increasingly stuck on sad expressions."

Source: ScienceDaily

hey knew the pill was fake but their memory still improved

 A placebo, or fake supplement, may offer real benefits for older adults, according to new research from psychologists at the Università Cattolica in Milan. After taking placebo pills for three weeks, participants showed improvements in both physical performance and cognitive function. Surprisingly, the benefits were seen even when participants knew the pills contained no active ingredients.

The study, published in the International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, was led by Diletta Barbiani, Alessandro Antonietti, and Francesco Pagnini. It was supported by PNRR grants through the Age-IT project.

"The study is part of an established line of research in which we analyze the role of the mind in aging processes, which is very important," says Pagnini, Full Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Faculty of Psychology of the Università Cattolica.

Testing the Placebo Effect in Healthy Aging

Until now, no research had investigated whether a traditional placebo could influence abilities that naturally decline with age.

"Our goal," Professor Pagnini explains, "was to clarify whether an open-label placebo therapy (i.e., where the recipient is aware it is a placebo) or a fake supplement (people don't know it's a placebo) could influence psychological, cognitive, and physical functions in older adults living in the community."

To explore that question, the researchers recruited 90 healthy older adults and randomly assigned them to one of three groups. One group received no treatment at all. A second group received placebo pills but was told the pills contained active ingredients designed to improve well-being and physical function. The third group received the same inactive pills but was openly informed that the pills were placebos that could still trigger beneficial mind-body responses.

Before and after the three-week study, participants completed questionnaires (providing information on levels of perceived stress, psychological well-being, sleepiness, fatigue, optimism, self-efficacy, and stereotypes about aging). They also took objective tests measuring short-term memory, selective attention, and physical performance.

Memory, Stress, and Physical Performance Improved

After three weeks, the participants who knowingly took placebo pills experienced lower stress levels than both the deceptive placebo group and the control group. They also showed significant improvements in short-term memory compared with those who received no intervention.

Overall, both placebo groups experienced gains in cognitive and physical performance, although the strongest improvements were generally seen among participants who knew they were taking a placebo.

Physical performance increased by 7% in the deceptive placebo group and by 9.2% in the open-label placebo group. Cognitive performance also improved. Depending on the specific test, scores increased by between 12.6% and 14.6% among participants who believed they were taking a real supplement, while those who knowingly took a placebo improved by between 6.9% and 21.5%.

"These are significant effects," the psychologist emphasizes, "comparable to those seen in some experimental studies on physical activity regarding physical performance and cognitive training, especially with regard to memory."

Researchers also observed reductions in drowsiness. Stress levels improved most noticeably among participants who were aware they were taking a placebo.

A New Approach to Healthy Aging?

The findings suggest that placebo treatments can improve several aspects of functioning in older adults, with open-label placebos performing as well as, or in some cases better than, deceptive placebos.

According to the researchers, this makes open-label placebos a promising and ethically acceptable strategy for supporting healthy aging.

Professor Pagnini says the results add to growing scientific evidence that the mind plays an important role in the aging process. Thoughts, emotions, and self-perception may influence not only psychological well-being but also physical abilities and cognitive function, highlighting the powerful connection between the mind and the body.

Source: ScienceDaily

Just 5 weeks of brain training may protect against dementia for 20 years

 Older adults who took part in a short program designed to sharpen how quickly they process visual information were less likely to develop dementia years later. The training, known as speed of processing training, teaches people to rapidly spot visual details on a computer screen and manage increasingly complex tasks in less time. Participants who completed five to six weeks of sessions, along with follow up booster sessions one to three years later, showed a reduced risk of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, up to 20 years later. The findings were published February 9 in Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research and Clinical Interventions.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and is the first randomized clinical trial to track dementia outcomes over two decades in older adults who underwent cognitive training. The participants were part of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) study. Beginning in 1998-99, researchers enrolled 2,802 adults and randomly assigned them to one of three cognitive training groups or to a control group that received no training.

The three interventions focused on memory, reasoning, or speed of processing. Those in the training groups completed up to 10 sessions lasting 60-75 minutes over five to six weeks. About half were also randomly selected to receive as many as four additional booster sessions at 11 and 35 months after the initial program.

20 Year Follow Up Results

Two decades later, researchers analyzed long term outcomes. Among participants who completed speed training and booster sessions, 105 out of 264 (40%) were diagnosed with dementia. In comparison, 239 out of 491 (49%) people in the control group developed dementia. That represents a 25% lower incidence in the speed training group with boosters. Importantly, speed training was the only intervention that showed a statistically significant difference compared to the control group.

To assess dementia diagnoses, investigators reviewed Medicare records from 2,021 participants (72% of the original study) between 1999 and 2019. The follow up group closely reflected the original study population. About three fourths were women, 70% were white, and the average age at the start was 74. Over the 20 year period, roughly three fourths of participants died (at an average age of 84).

Why Dementia Prevention Matters

Dementia involves a decline in thinking and memory severe enough to interfere with daily life and independent living. It is estimated to affect 42% of adults older than age 55 at some point in their lives and costs the United States more than $600 billion annually. Alzheimer's disease accounts for approximately 60%-80% of cases, while vascular dementia represents about 5%-10%. Other forms include Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, or mixed types.

"Seeing that boosted speed training was linked to lower dementia risk two decades later is remarkable because it suggests that a fairly modest nonpharmacological intervention can have long-term effects," says Marilyn Albert, Ph.D., the corresponding study author and director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Johns Hopkins Medicine. "Even small delays in the onset of dementia may have a large impact on public health and help reduce rising health care costs."

Albert noted that further research is needed to understand the biological mechanisms behind these results and why memory and reasoning training did not produce the same long term associations.

How Speed Training May Protect the Brain

The new findings build on earlier ACTIVE trial results. Previous analyses showed that cognitive training improved everyday thinking skills for up to five years. After 10 years, all three training types were associated with better daily functioning. Participants who completed speed training had a 29% lower dementia incidence at the 10 year mark compared to the control group. Each booster session was tied to additional reductions in risk.

Researchers believe speed training may have been especially effective because it was adaptive. The program adjusted the level of difficulty based on each person's performance that day. Individuals who performed well progressed to more challenging tasks, while those who needed more time worked at a slower pace. In contrast, the memory and reasoning programs taught the same strategies to everyone.

Speed training also relies on implicit learning, which functions more like building a skill or habit. Memory and reasoning training depend on explicit learning, which involves consciously learning facts and techniques. Scientists know that implicit and explicit learning engage different brain systems, and this distinction may help explain why only speed training was associated with lower dementia risk in this analysis.

"Our findings provide support for the development and refinement of cognitive training interventions for older adults, particularly those that target visual processing and divided attention abilities," says site principal investigator George Rebok, Ph.D., a lifespan developmental psychologist who creates community programs for healthy aging and is a professor emeritus of mental health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "It is possible that adding this cognitive training to lifestyle change interventions may delay dementia onset, but that remains to be studied."

The authors suggest that speed training could potentially complement other healthy aging strategies that support brain connections, although more research is required to confirm this. Other behaviors linked to lower cognitive decline risk include maintaining heart health by monitoring blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and body weight, along with regular physical activity.

Source: ScienceDaily

Scientists link childhood stress to lifelong digestive issues

 A new study published in Gastroenterology suggests that stress during early life may increase the risk of digestive problems later on. Researchers found that these effects are linked to changes in both the gut and the sympathetic nervous system.

"Our research shows that these stressors can have a real impact on a child's development and may influence gut issues long-term. Understanding the mechanisms involved can help us to create more targeted treatments," said study author Kara Margolis, director of the NYU Pain Research Center and professor of molecular pathobiology at NYU College of Dentistry and pediatrics and cell biology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

How Early Stress Shapes Brain and Gut Development

Experiences such as emotional neglect and other forms of adversity can significantly influence a child's development. Studies indicate that stress during pregnancy and early childhood can affect how the brain develops and increase the risk of mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.

To better understand this connection, researchers at NYU College of Dentistry's Pain Research Center examined how early stress affects communication between the brain and the gut. This connection plays a key role in digestion, and disruptions can lead to conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, abdominal pain, and motility issues (e.g., constipation or diarrhea).

"When the brain is impacted, the gut is likely also impacted -- the two systems communicate 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Margolis. "There's some data showing that early life stress may be linked to gut disorders, but we wanted to take an in-depth look at the mechanisms and how these gut-brain pathways work."

Mouse Studies Reveal Lasting Effects of Early Stress

The research team investigated early life stress using mouse models along with two large studies involving children.

In the animal study, newborn mice were separated from their mothers for several hours each day to simulate early stress. When examined months later (at the equivalent of young adulthood), these mice showed increased anxiety-like behavior, gut pain, and problems with gut movement. The type of motility issue differed by sex, with females more likely to develop diarrhea and males more likely to experience constipation.

Further experiments showed that different biological pathways appear to control different symptoms. Disrupting sympathetic nerve signaling improved motility issues but did not reduce pain. In contrast, sex hormones influenced pain but not motility. Serotonin-related pathways were involved in both pain and gut movement.

"This suggests that there's no one-size-fits-all approach to treating disorders of gut-brain interaction, and that when patients experience different symptoms, we may have to target different pathways," said Margolis.

Human Studies Confirm Link Between Stress and Digestive Disorders

The findings from animal experiments were supported by two large human studies. One study followed more than 40,000 children in Denmark from birth to age 15. About half were born to mothers who experienced untreated depression during or after pregnancy.

Children of mothers with untreated depression had a higher risk of developing digestive conditions, including nausea and vomiting, functional constipation, colic, and irritable bowel syndrome. These results build on earlier work showing that children of mothers who took antidepressants during pregnancy were more likely to be diagnosed with functional constipation.

"Digestive outcomes for children seem to be even more profound when a mother's depression is left untreated, suggesting that mothers experiencing depression should be treated during pregnancy. This may include nonmedical measures like therapy, but some pregnant women may also require medications to treat their depression," said Margolis. "This finding also reinforces our commitment to developing antidepressants that do not reach the placenta -- a focus of many of our studies right now."

A second study analyzed data from nearly 12,000 children in the US participating in the NIH-funded Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Researchers examined adverse childhood experiences, such as abuse, neglect, and parental mental health challenges, and compared them with digestive symptoms at ages nine and 10. They found that any form of early stress was linked to an increase in gastrointestinal problems.

Interestingly, unlike the mouse studies, the human data showed no differences between males and females in digestive outcomes. This suggests that early stress may affect gut and gut-brain health similarly across sexes during key stages of development.

Toward More Targeted Treatments for Gut Disorders

Overall, the research indicates that early life stress can influence how the gut and brain communicate, contributing to long-term digestive issues such as pain and motility problems. The discovery that different biological pathways drive different symptoms could help guide more precise treatments for disorders of gut-brain interaction.

Source: ScienceDaily

Scientists say travel could slow aging and boost your health

 Retinol creams may get most of the attention in the fight against visible aging, but researchers at Edith Cowan University (ECU) have pointed to a much bigger and more adventurous possibility: travel.

In a 2024 interdisciplinary study published in the Journal of Travel Research, ECU researchers applied the theory of entropy to tourism, proposing that positive travel experiences may support physical and mental health in ways that could help slow some signs of aging. The work does not suggest that travel can stop aging, but it frames tourism as more than a break from routine. It may be a way to help the body maintain balance, resilience, and repair.

How Travel Could Influence Aging

Entropy is often described as the universe's movement toward disorder. In the context of health, the researchers suggest that experiences can either support or disrupt the body's ability to stay organized and functioning well. Positive travel experiences may help reduce that drift toward disorder, while stressful or unsafe travel may push the body in the opposite direction.

"Aging, as a process, is irreversible. While it can't be stopped, it can be slowed down," ECU PhD candidate Ms. Fangli Hu said.

According to Ms. Hu, travel may improve well being by placing people in new environments, encouraging movement, increasing social interaction, and creating positive emotions. Those same ideas already appear in areas such as wellness tourism, health tourism, and yoga tourism.

"Tourism isn't just about leisure and recreation. It could also contribute to people's physical and mental health," Ms. Hu added.

Travel Therapy and the Body's Defense Systems

Viewed through an entropy lens, travel therapy could become a meaningful health intervention, Ms. Hu said. The idea is that positive travel experiences, as part of a person's environment, may help the body maintain a healthier low entropy state by influencing four major body systems.

Travel often combines unfamiliar surroundings with relaxing experiences. New settings can stimulate the body, raise metabolic activity, and help activate self organizing processes that keep biological systems working smoothly. These experiences may also prompt the adaptive immune system, which helps the body recognize and respond to outside threats.

Ms. Hu said that this reaction improves the body's ability to perceive and defend itself against external threats.

"Put simply, the self-defense system becomes more resilient. Hormones conducive to tissue repair and regeneration may be released and promote the self-healing system's functioning."

Stress Relief, Movement, and Healthy Aging

Relaxing travel activities may also help reduce chronic stress and calm an overactive immune response. Recreation can ease tension and fatigue in the muscles and joints, supporting metabolic balance and strengthening the body's ability to resist wear and tear.

This matters because travel is rarely just sitting still. Trips often include walking through cities, hiking trails, climbing, cycling, or simply spending more time on your feet than usual. That physical activity can increase metabolism, energy use, and nutrient movement throughout the body, all of which may support the systems that keep the body repaired and resilient.

"Participating in these activities could enhance the body's immune function and self-defense capabilities, bolstering its hardiness to external risks. Physical exercise may also improve blood circulation, expedite nutrient transport, and aid waste elimination to collectively maintain an active self-healing system. Moderate exercise is beneficial to the bones, muscles, and joints in addition to supporting the body's anti-wear-and-tear system," Ms. Hu said.

A Field That Is Still Taking Shape

Since the 2024 study, related work has continued to explore travel therapy as a possible health and wellness approach. A 2025 research note by Hu and colleagues described travel therapy as an emerging approach in which positive travel experiences may promote well being, while also emphasizing the need to weigh benefits against risks.

Another 2025 paper called for closer collaboration between travel medicine and tourism, reflecting a growing interest in how vacations, health risks, preventive care, and traveler well being overlap. A 2025 systematic review also found that tourism and healthy aging is becoming an important interdisciplinary research area, but remains underexplored and in need of stronger methods and clearer future research directions.

Together, these newer findings support a careful interpretation: travel may offer real health related benefits, especially when it includes movement, social connection, novelty, and restoration, but researchers are still working to understand how strong those effects are and who benefits most.

The Risks Behind the Benefits

The same research also cautions that travel is not automatically healthy. Tourists can face infectious diseases, accidents, injuries, violence, unsafe food or water, and other risks linked to poor planning or unsuitable travel choices.

"Conversely, tourism can involve negative experiences that potentially lead to health problems, paralleling the process of promoting entropy increase. A prominent example is the public health crisis of COVID-19."

The central message is not that any trip will slow aging. Rather, positive travel experiences may help the body and mind function better by combining novelty, relaxation, physical activity, and social connection. When travel is safe, restorative, and active, it may do more than create memories. It could help support healthier aging from the inside out.

Source: ScienceDaily