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What do Sardinia's Blue Zone elders do differently that helps them age so well physically and mentally?
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-sardinia-blue-zone-elders-differently.htmlSanjukta Mondal
Openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness were linked to better psychological well-being.
Blue Zone participants also spent more time in leisure activities that are cognitively or physically stimulating.
People are living longer than they did at the turn of the 20th century, but living well into old age depends on more than a healthy lifestyle. Scientists say it is also shaped by how we think, adapt and connect with others.
In the early 2000s, scientists first identified certain locations where the residents not only live long lives but also healthy ones with a high quality of life. They called these regions the Blue Zones, which include central-eastern Sardinia (Italy), Okinawa (Japan), Ikaria (Greece) and Nicoya (Costa Rica).
In a recent study, researchers wanted to figure out whether personality traits, along with lifestyle factors, set people of the Sardinian Blue Zone apart from those in neighboring rural areas and contribute to their successful aging.
After following 125 community-dwelling adults ages 71-101 from the Sardinian Blue Zone and a nearby non-Blue Zone, the researchers found that those living in the Blue Zone scored significantly higher on openness to experience.
They were more curious, more willing to try new activities and showed greater emotional competence, which is the ability to understand and share their feelings with others. Their daily routines reflected this mindset. On average, they spent 11.3 hours a week on hobbies and mentally stimulating activities, like reading and gardening, compared with 6.8 hours among older adults living in the nearby rural area.
The results showed that neuroticism, a tendency toward anxiety, depression, self-doubt and other negative feelings, was the personality trait most clearly linked to worse health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in this sample.
. . .
In the early 2000s, scientists first identified certain locations where the residents not only live long lives but also healthy ones with a high quality of life. They called these regions the Blue Zones, which include central-eastern Sardinia (Italy), Okinawa (Japan), Ikaria (Greece) and Nicoya (Costa Rica).
In a recent study, researchers wanted to figure out whether personality traits, along with lifestyle factors, set people of the Sardinian Blue Zone apart from those in neighboring rural areas and contribute to their successful aging.
After following 125 community-dwelling adults ages 71-101 from the Sardinian Blue Zone and a nearby non-Blue Zone, the researchers found that those living in the Blue Zone scored significantly higher on openness to experience.
They were more curious, more willing to try new activities and showed greater emotional competence, which is the ability to understand and share their feelings with others. Their daily routines reflected this mindset. On average, they spent 11.3 hours a week on hobbies and mentally stimulating activities, like reading and gardening, compared with 6.8 hours among older adults living in the nearby rural area.
The results showed that neuroticism, a tendency toward anxiety, depression, self-doubt and other negative feelings, was the personality trait most clearly linked to worse health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in this sample.
. . .
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