June 3, 2026
Having an optimistic outlook on life may be good for your brain, according to a new report. The study found that older adults who looked on the bright side of life were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia as they aged.
For the study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, researchers looked at 9,071 seniors who were part of the Health and Retirement Study, a long-running study of health and aging. The study included a diverse cross-section of cognitively healthy older Americans, all of whom had tests of memory and thinking skills at age 70 or older.
Participants also underwent psychological assessments to gauge their general levels of optimism, using a scientifically validated survey called the Revised Life Orientation Test. They were asked to respond to a series of questions that included six related to optimism levels. Three of the questions gauged positive expectations for future outcomes:
- In uncertain times, I usually expect the best.
- I’m always optimistic about my future.
- Overall, I expect more good things to happen to me than bad.
Three other questions gauged their tendency to have negative expectations about the future:
- If something can go wrong for me, it will.
- I hardly ever expect things to go my way.
- I rarely count on good things happening to me.
Participants responded on a five-point scale, ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree, and their scores were tallied to assess their general optimism levels.
Researchers followed them for an average of 14 years. During that time, 3,027 developed Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia.
The researchers found that those men and women who exhibited the highest optimism scores were 15 percent less likely to develop dementia than their more pessimistic peers. The researchers adjusted for factors that may have contributed to dementia risk, including education levels and major medical conditions, including depression and other mental health disorders. They also excluded from the analysis anyone who developed dementia within two years of their cognitive test, since worry about memory loss and impending dementia may have affected their general optimism scores. Having an optimistic outlook seemed to be independently associated with a lower dementia risk.
The findings build on growing evidence linking optimism with a longer life and healthy aging in general, including improved brain health. A study from last year, for example, found that having a positive outlook on life in middle age was associated with higher scores on memory tests over the next 16 years.
The researchers note that several processes may help to explain how optimism could influence dementia risk. Earlier studies have shown, for example, that optimism may boost the immune system and lead to lower levels of inflammation in the brain. Increasingly, scientists believe that body-wide inflammation contributes to Alzheimer’s disease. Being optimistic may also lead to stronger social networks, a well-recognized protector of brain health. It may also lead to healthier lifestyle choices, including increased physical activity and not smoking, which can lower your Alzheimer’s risk.
“Identifying optimism as a protective psychosocial factor highlights the potential value of optimism in supporting healthy aging,” the authors concluded. They noted that while about 25 percent of optimism levels may be related to family genetics, numerous studies suggest that you can take steps to increase your positive outlook on life. Programs that utilize mindfulness meditation, keeping a gratitude journal, and limiting exposure to negative news and people with negative outlooks, for example, have been shown to boost optimism levels. Psychological counseling that helps you reframe negative thoughts can also help.
“There are interventions that successfully shift individuals’ views and beliefs about the future, a shift that could potentially improve an individual’s quality of life, long-term health, and possibly the risk of dementia, as suggested by our study,” the researchers note. “Randomized trials designed to increase optimism among older adults may also be informative and further inform whether optimism learned or increased later in life also contributes to maintaining healthy cognitive function.”
By ALZinfo.org, The Alzheimer’s Information Site. Reviewed by Eric Schmidt, Ph.D., Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at The Rockefeller University.
Source: Sade Stenlund, Hayami K. Koga, Peter James, et al: “The Bright Side of Life: Optimism and Risk of Dementia.” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, April 28, 2026
