May 30, 2012 By: yunews
Researchers at Einstein and Ferkauf Find "Personality Genes" May Help Account for Longevity
鈥淚t鈥檚 in their genes鈥 is a common refrain from scientists when asked about factors that allow centenarians to reach age 100 and beyond. Up until now, research has focused on genetic variations that offer a physiological advantage such as high levels of HDL (鈥済ood鈥) cholesterol. But researchers at and of 黑料社 All have found that personality traits like being outgoing, optimistic, easygoing and enjoying laughter as well as staying engaged in activities may also be part of the longevity genes mix.
The findings, published online May 21 in the journal Aging, come from Einstein鈥檚 , which includes over 500 Ashkenazi Jews over the age of 95 and 700 of their offspring. Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jews were selected because they are genetically homogeneous, making it easier to spot genetic differences within the study population.
Previous studies have indicated that personality arises from underlying genetic mechanisms that may directly affect health. The present study of 243 of the centenarians (average age 97.6 years, 75 percent women) was aimed at detecting genetically-based personality characteristics by developing a brief measure (the Personality Outlook Profile Scale or POPS) of personality in centenarians.
鈥淲hen I started working with centenarians, I thought we鈥檇 find that they survived so long in part because they were mean and ornery,鈥 said , the Ingeborg and Ira Leon Rennert Chair of Aging Research, director of Einstein鈥檚 and co-corresponding author of the study. 鈥淏ut when we assessed the personalities of these 243 centenarians, we found qualities that clearly reflect a positive attitude towards life. Most were outgoing, optimistic and easygoing. They considered laughter an important part of life and had a large social network. They expressed emotions openly rather than bottling them up.鈥 In addition, the centenarians had lower scores for displaying neurotic personality and higher scores for being conscientious compared with a representative sample of the U.S. population.
鈥淪ome evidence indicates that personality can change between the ages of 70 and 100, so we don鈥檛 know whether our centenarians have maintained their personality traits across their entire lifespans,鈥 continued Dr. Barzilai. 鈥淣evertheless, our findings suggest that centenarians share particular personality traits and that genetically-based aspects of personality may play an important role in achieving both good health and exceptional longevity.鈥
The study is titled 鈥淧ositive attitude towards life and emotional expression as personality phenotypes for centenarians.鈥 The POPS was developed by lead author Kaori Kato, Psy.D., now at Weill Cornell Medical College, who validated it through comparisons with two previously established measures of personality traits. Other authors of the study were Richard Zweig, Ph.D., assistant clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Einstein and director of the Older Adult Program at Ferkauf, and , assistant professor of medicineand of genetics at Einstein.
