• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Tracking Health and Wellness Applications of Brain Science

Spanish
sb-logo-with-brain
  • Resources
    • Monthly eNewsletter
    • Solving the Brain Fitness Puzzle
    • The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness
    • How to evaluate brain training claims
    • Resources at a Glance
  • Brain Teasers
    • Top 25 Brain Teasers & Games for Teens and Adults
    • Brain Teasers for each Cognitive Ability
    • More Mind Teasers & Games for Adults of any Age
  • Virtual Summits
    • 2019 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • Speaker Roster
    • Brainnovations Pitch Contest
    • 2017 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • 2016 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • 2015 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • 2014 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
  • Report: Pervasive Neurotechnology
  • Report: Digital Brain Health
  • About
    • Mission & Team
    • Endorsements
    • Public Speaking
    • In the News
    • Contact Us

MetLife Mature Market Institute: Meaning, Purpose and Cognitive Health for a Lifelong Good Life

March 14, 2009 by Fay Radding

Increased longevi­ty has gen­er­at­ed many ques­tions and much inter­est in healthy aging and retire­ment lifestyles over the recent decades. As Amer­i­cans become edu­cat­ed regard­ing lifestyle choic­es that con­tribute to both phys­i­cal and men­tal health, the def­i­n­i­tion of healthy aging has expand­ed to include brain health.

The notion of retire­ment as a time of with­draw­al from soci­ety, to be spent on rest and repose reflect­ed the think­ing of a pre­vi­ous era when peo­ple expect­ed short­er life spans. It is now known that the human brain ben­e­fits from envi­ron­ments rich in nov­el and com­plex stim­uli, and that by active­ly par­tic­i­pat­ing in soci­ety and tak­ing on per­son­al­ly rel­e­vant roles, peo­ple find mean­ing and pur­pose, which gives them a rea­son to get up in the morn­ing and pur­sue new challenges.

This year, the MetLife Mature Mar­ket Insti­tute pub­lished a research study titled Dis­cov­er­ing What Mat­ters: Bal­anc­ing Mon­ey, Med­i­cine and Mean­ing. The study explored how peo­ple rebal­ance their pri­or­i­ties over time and jug­gle var­i­ous com­pet­ing aspects of life includ­ing mon­ey, med­i­cine (a metaphor for health) and mean­ing, in order to live the Good Life.  Hav­ing pur­pose was found to be a dif­fer­en­tia­tor of those liv­ing the Good Life.

The study polled over 1,000 indi­vid­u­als from ages 45 to 74 and found that as peo­ple age, their focus shifts from activ­i­ties relat­ed to the pur­suit of mon­ey to activ­i­ties that are relat­ed to hav­ing pur­pose and mean­ing, such as spend­ing time with friends and fam­i­ly, and health-relat­ed activ­i­ties, such as tak­ing care of their cognitive/brain health.

The study rein­forces the impor­tance of find­ing mean­ing and pur­pose, as well as rec­om­men­da­tions on brain health to con­tin­ue to seek out new chal­lenges. Of those who felt their lives had pur­pose, 84 per­cent report­ed that they are liv­ing the Good Life com­pared to 33 per­cent of those who are not liv­ing the Good Life. Sim­i­lar­ly, con­tent­ment was a dif­fer­en­tia­tor between those whose lives have pur­pose and those whose lives do not have as much pur­pose. Of those whose lives have pur­pose, 66 per­cent are com­plete­ly con­tent with their lives, com­pared to 26 per­cent of those whose lives do not have much purpose.

As indi­vid­u­als age, mean­ing­ful inter­ac­tions and pur­pose­ful activ­i­ty become even more val­ued and cru­cial to cog­ni­tive health- and cog­ni­tive health itself becomes more of a priority.

You can find the full sur­vey results here: Dis­cov­er­ing What Mat­ters (opens 1MB PDF document).

MetLife Mature Market Institute Fay Radding– Fay Radding is a Senior Geron­tol­o­gist at MetLife Mature Mar­ket Insti­tute. Since 1997, the MetLife Mature Mar­ket Insti­tute has pub­lished research, sur­veys and con­sumer pub­li­ca­tions ded­i­cat­ed to expand­ing the knowl­edge and aware­ness of choic­es avail­able to the pub­lic. In 2007, the MetLife Mature Mar­ket Insti­tute pub­lished the guide Ten Tips for Main­tain­ing a Healthy Brain, which high­light­ed the impor­tance of main­tain­ing a sense of pur­pose through­out the lifespan.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pock­et

Filed Under: Brain/ Mental Health Tagged With: Brain-health, cognitive-health, complex-stimuli, Discovering-What-Matters, family, Fay-Radding, friends, Gerontologist, good-life, healthy-aging, healthy-brain, human-brain, increased-longevity, lifelong, longevity, Meaning, medicine, MetLife-Mature-Market-Institute, Money, purpose, retirement, retirement-lifestyles

Primary Sidebar

Top Articles on Brain Health and Neuroplasticity

  1. Can you grow your hippocampus? Yes. Here’s how, and why it matters
  2. How learning changes your brain
  3. To harness neuroplasticity, start with enthusiasm
  4. Three ways to protect your mental health during –and after– COVID-19
  5. Why you turn down the radio when you're lost
  6. Solving the Brain Fitness Puzzle Is the Key to Self-Empowered Aging
  7. Ten neu­rotech­nolo­gies about to trans­form brain enhance­ment & health
  8. Five reasons the future of brain enhancement is digital, pervasive and (hopefully) bright
  9. What Educators and Parents Should Know About Neuroplasticity and Dance
  10. The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains
  11. Six tips to build resilience and prevent brain-damaging stress
  12. Can brain training work? Yes, if it meets these 5 conditions
  13. What are cognitive abilities and how to boost them?
  14. Eight Tips To Remember What You Read
  15. Twenty Must-Know Facts to Harness Neuroplasticity and Improve Brain Health

Top 10 Brain Teasers and Illusions

  1. You think you know the colors? Try the Stroop Test
  2. Check out this brief attention experiment
  3. Test your stress level
  4. Guess: Are there more brain connections or leaves in the Amazon?
  5. Quick brain teasers to flex two key men­tal mus­cles
  6. Count the Fs in this sentence
  7. Can you iden­tify Apple’s logo?
  8. Ten classic optical illu­sions to trick your mind
  9. What do you see?
  10. Fun Mental Rotation challenge
  • Check our Top 25 Brain Teasers, Games and Illusions

Join 12,620 readers exploring, at no cost, the latest in neuroplasticity and brain health.

By subscribing you agree to receive our free, monthly eNewsletter. We don't rent or sell emails collected, and you may unsubscribe at any time.

IMPORTANT: Please check your inbox or spam folder in a couple minutes and confirm your subscription.

Get In Touch!

Contact Us

660 4th Street, Suite 205,
San Francisco, CA 94107 USA

About Us

SharpBrains is an independent market research firm tracking health and performance applications of brain science. We prepare general and tailored market reports, publish consumer guides, produce an annual global and virtual conference, and provide strategic advisory services.

© 2022 SharpBrains. All Rights Reserved - Privacy Policy