Negative stereotypes about aging linked to increased Alzheimer's risk

Old people are absent-minded. Old people are grouchy. Old people can’t learn new things.

If you believe these stereotypes, you may be at higher risk for Alzheimer’s, two new studies show. The studies, published in a paper Tuesday in the journal Psychology and Aging, show that people who have negative beliefs about aging are more likely to have brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Looking at healthy, dementia-free subjects from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, the nation’s longest-running scientific study of aging, researchers found that the volume of the hippocampus - a...