MAGA declaring war on seniors — and it could be their downfall

Is Trump testing to see how much he can take away from seniors before they rebel?

Alex Henderson

According to data from the Roper Center at Cornell University, 50 percent of U.S. seniors — those who are 65 or older — voted for Donald Trump in 2024 compared to 49 percent for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. 

The senior vote was close in 2024, and seniors, Roper says, played an important role in getting Trump past the finish line. But according to Salon's Heather Digby Parton, seniors could be the ones who doom Republicans in the 2026 midterms.

Parton notes that because so many seniors vote GOP, "it's always been a mystery" to her "why Republicans have always been so bent on destroying the safety net that brought the elderly out of poverty and assured them a baseline level of subsistence and medical care." And she points that crucial safety-net programs used by seniors — Social Security and Medicare — came from liberal Democratic presidents.

"From the moment Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act in 1935 to the day Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Medicare and Medicaid Act 30 years later," Parton explains, "the right has been trying to destroy them. In the early days, it sprang from their obsession with anti-communism, arguments that the country couldn't afford it, and that individuals and their families are rightfully responsible for their own care in old age.

“In a 1961 radio address — 20 years before he became president — Ronald Reagan said, 'One of the traditional methods of imposing statism or socialism on a people has been by way of medicine' ... Before Medicare was created, only 54 percent of elderly people had health insurance, and that could be cancelled without cause when they got sick — which, as you know, tends to happen when you get old."

Parton continues, "Three years after it was enacted, 96 percent of people over 65 had hospital insurance. It was literally a life saver. Over the years, Medicaid, created at the same time to assist people living below the poverty line, came to cover many of the health expenses that Medicare didn't for elderly people, most importantly for nursing homes and caregivers. The GOP has been hacking away at these vital programs ever since, and yet, senior citizens have been voting for them in greater numbers than any other age cohort."

Domestic Cats Age Like Humans, New Study Shows

Learning from our cats

By SCi.News Staff

Cats can live relatively long lives and there is some evidence they may share aging patterns with humans.

According to An Age, the maximum lifespan in humans (i.e. 122.5 years) is nearly twice that of great apes (e.g. 68 years in chimpanzees).

Domestic cats, like humans, also have a longer maximum lifespan (30 years) than closely related species, e.g. the European wildcat (Felis silvestris) (19 years).

Also, there are an estimated 600 million cats worldwide.

“We focus on cross-species age alignments across the lifespan of humans and cats with a particular focus on aging because cats live long lives and they are numerous, suggesting we may study them in large enough samples to assess whether their ages can be mapped onto a human in their 80s and beyond,” said Auburn University researcher Christine Charvet and colleagues.

For the study, the authors examined 3,754 data points collected across humans, cats and other mammalian species.

These data point covered brain imaging, blood chemistry, disease-related patterns and behavioral milestones such as eye opening and the onset of playful behavior.

The MRI work showed cats and humans share similar age-related changes in brain structure, including overall shrinkage, expansion of the ventricles (the hollow spaces inside the brain filled with fluid), and other structural alterations.

These brain changes are found in conditions commonly associated with aging. Both humans and older cats can develop age-related neurodegenerative changes later in life.

Colorectal Cancer Is Rising Fast in Younger Adults, Reversing Decades of Progress

Prevention and screening needed at earlier age

By American Cancer Society

For much of the past century, colorectal cancer was considered a disease of older age. But that picture is changing rapidly. Nearly half of all new colorectal cancer diagnoses in the United States now occur in adults younger than 65, a dramatic increase from just over one-quarter in the mid-1990s, and the disease has become the leading cause of cancer death in adults under 50.

A new American Cancer Society (ACS) report shows that this generational shift is accelerating. While colorectal cancer rates continue to decline among older Americans, they are climbing in adults younger than 65, particularly those under 50, suggesting that the decades-long success against one of the nation’s deadliest cancers is becoming increasingly concentrated in older generations.

The trend is being driven largely by cancers arising in the distal colon, the final section of the colon, and the rectum. As a result, rectal cancer now accounts for nearly one-third of all colorectal cancer diagnoses, up from about one-quarter two decades ago. The findings were published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

Rhode Island needs this!

A New Option for Long-Term Care Costs

By Paula Span

Kelly Haggett figures that a mandatory surcharge added to Washington state’s payroll tax cost her about $500 last year. But she doesn’t really mind.

“On a scale of 1 to 10 of my annoyance with taxes in general, this one is about a 2,” she said. “I see the benefits.”

The small surcharge on wages provides the funding for Washington Cares, the nation’s first state-operated program for long-term care insurance. It was set to begin distributing benefits July 1.

If Haggett, 67, a systems administrator who lives in Auburn, Washington, needs help with daily activities as she ages — bathing, dressing, grocery shopping, managing medications — she’ll be able to use the benefit she has accrued through WA Cares, as the program is known.

About 3.7 million workers participated last year, paying an additional 0.58% in payroll taxes. Those who contribute for 10 years will qualify for a lifetime benefit of $36,500. The amount will rise with inflation: A 36-year-old now earning about $50,000 a year who contributes $291 a year for a decade will have a projected $98,000 benefit if she needs assistance at age 75.

Both the WA Cares mandatory premiums and eventual benefits are modest. But for older adults and people with disabilities, they can help pay for a variety of services: home care, transportation, adult day programs, home modifications like ramps and grab bars, compensation for family members who assist them, or assisted living facilities and nursing homes.

Haggett had looked into private long-term care insurance to cover those needs, but she balked. “It’s crazy expensive,” she said. And since premiums can rise, and frequently have, “you’re basically saying, I’ll pay whatever, whenever.”

Millions take omega-3 fish oil for brain health but a new study found no benefit

But heart health recommendations remain unchanged

University of Southern California - Health Sciences

Americans spend more than $1 billion each year on fish oil supplements, largely because of claims that the omega-3 fatty acids they contain can support brain health. These essential nutrients help build and maintain the connections between brain cells that are important for thinking and memory.

But new research from Keck Medicine of USC suggests that boosting omega-3 levels through supplements may not provide the brain benefits many people expect. The study, published in eBioMedicine, found that although omega-3s from fish oil successfully reached the brain, they did not improve measures of brain health in older adults at increased risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Over the course of a two-year, placebo-controlled, double-blinded clinical trial, researchers found that high-dose omega-3 supplements failed to improve memory, cognitive performance, or brain cell loss in regions associated with Alzheimer's.

"We all wish there was a silver bullet for preventing Alzheimer's, but our findings showed that fish oil supplements do not appear to protect brain health," said Hussein Naji Yassine, MD, director of the USC Center for Personalized Brain Health and lead investigator of the study. "While omega-3s play an important role in forming brain cell connections needed for cognition, our results do not support fish oil supplements as a preventive measure against Alzheimer's."

Yale study finds nearly half of older adults improved with age

Good news for half of old people, not so much for the rest

Yale University

Gloria Steinem, now 92, aged well

A long-term Yale study is challenging one of the biggest myths about aging. Nearly half of adults over 65 improved physically, mentally, or both over time, despite the common belief that aging means constant decline. Researchers found that people with more positive attitudes about getting older were significantly more likely to show these gains.

Drawing on more than a decade of data from a large, nationally representative study of older Americans, researchers discovered that nearly half of adults age 65 and older experienced measurable improvements in cognitive function, physical function, or both.

Him, not so much

The findings suggest that improvement in later life is far more common than many people realize.

“Many people equate aging with an inevitable and continuous loss of physical and cognitive abilities,” said Becca R. Levy, lead author of the study and professor of social and behavioral sciences at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH). “What we found is that improvement in later life is not rare, it’s common, and it should be included in our understanding of the aging process.”

The study was published in the journal Geriatrics.

Aging and Improvement Over Time

The research team analyzed data from more than 11,000 participants in the Health and Retirement Study, a federally funded long-term survey of older Americans.

To measure changes in mental abilities, the researchers used a global cognitive assessment. Physical function was evaluated through walking speed, a measure often considered by geriatricians to be a key indicator of overall health because it is closely linked to disability, hospitalization, and mortality.

Participants were followed for as long as 12 years. During that period, 45% showed improvement in at least one of the two areas examined.

Approximately 32% improved cognitively, while 28% improved physically. Many participants experienced gains large enough to be considered clinically meaningful. When researchers also counted individuals whose cognitive abilities remained stable rather than declining, more than half of participants avoided the commonly held expectation of cognitive deterioration.

how aging changes the way we walk

We emphasize stability over speed

Ageing and Gait – credit Maarten Immink with ChatGPT

Reasons why our walking becomes slower and more tiring with age have been uncovered by new Australian research — with findings showing the body increasingly sacrifices efficiency to stay upright.

The study, led by Flinders University and the University of Canberra, reveals that as we age, the body adopts a “safety-first” walking style that prioritizes stability at the cost of speed and energy efficiency, which helps explain why older adults tire more easily and face a higher risk of falls.

Analyzing movement data from 107 healthy adults aged 26 to 86, researchers identified subtle but important changes in how the ankle and surrounding muscles control each step.

Lead author and expert in sport and exercise technology, Dr Cody Lindsay, says the ankle plays a critical role in both balance and forward motion.

“As we get older, the body starts to favor stability over efficiency,” says Dr Lindsay, from the Flinders Caring Futures Institute.

“That helps keep us upright, but it also makes walking more of an effort.”

Why many older Americans are losing ground under 80‑year‑old Trump

Cuts to food programs, Meals on Wheels, Medicaid, plus inflation and looming Medicare benefit cuts endanger older Americans

Nina A. Kohn, Syracuse University and Naomi Cahn, University of Virginia

American political leadership skews decidedly older than the population as a whole. President Donald Trump turned 80 years old on June 14, 2026. The median age for senators is nearly 65, and the median age for House of Representatives members is almost 58.

But are those older people in office a sign that the U.S. government is turning into a “gerontocracy” that is giving younger generations short shrift?

No – many older Americans are becoming worse off.

We are experts in elder law who have been following the legal treatment of older Americans for decades. One of us writes a leading elder law casebook, and we are co-authors of a book on aging that will be published in January 2027. Through our research, we have observed a series of federal policy changes that will make life harder for many Americans of modest means as they age.

In our view, those policies show why, more than ever, it is wrong to assume that rich and powerful older people will protect all older adults, including those who aren’t wealthy.

Social Security cuts loom

Perhaps the most publicized of these policy failures is that the federal government hasn’t taken steps to stave off Social Security benefits cuts.

The program will have to cut the benefits it provides by roughly 22% starting in 2032 unless Congress steps up. That would affect a lot of people: Currently, Social Security pays benefits to more than 60 million retired workers, as well as survivor benefits for the spouses of workers who have died and their eligible children.

But instead of taking steps to shore up the program, Congress has sped up that expected moment of reckoning.

A tax break included in the big tax and spending package Trump signed into law in summer 2025 that benefits some older people will actually weaken Social Security for everyone by reducing the tax revenue that funds the program.

Social Security’s revenue is further compromised by the declining number of immigrants in the workforce who contribute to the program through the payroll tax, even though many of them will never be eligible to receive its benefits. More immigrants departed the U.S. than arrived in 2025 due to the Trump administration’s policies, which are supported by funding for immigration enforcement approved by the Republican majority in Congress.

These changes will hit some older adults harder than others. Social Security keeps millions more women than men out of poverty, as well as more Blacks and Latinos than whites.

Is this how Donald Trump's ear miraculously healed so quickly and thoroughly?

Stanford scientists regrow lost cartilage and reverse arthritis in major breakthrough

Stanford Medicine

Miraculous healing

Scientists have found a way to regenerate worn-out joint cartilage by blocking an aging-related protein called 15-PGDH. Credit: Shutterstock

A treatment that targets a protein linked to aging has restored lost knee cartilage in older mice and prevented arthritis from developing after serious joint injuries, according to a Stanford Medicine-led study.

Researchers also found encouraging results in human tissue. Samples collected during knee replacement surgeries began producing new, functional cartilage when exposed to the treatment.

The findings raise the possibility that damaged cartilage caused by aging or osteoarthritis could one day be repaired with either a local injection or an oral medication. If successful in people, the approach could reduce the need for knee and hip replacement surgeries.

An oral version of the treatment is already being tested in clinical trials for age-related muscle weakness.

Targeting the Root Cause of Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and affects about one in five adults in the United States. The disease gradually breaks down cartilage in the joints, causing pain, stiffness, and swelling. It is estimated to generate roughly $65 billion in direct health care costs each year.

Current treatments focus mainly on pain relief and, in severe cases, joint replacement surgery. No approved medication can slow, stop, or reverse the underlying disease process.

The new treatment works by blocking a protein called 15-PGDH, which researchers describe as a "gerozyme." This class of proteins becomes more abundant with age and contributes to declining tissue function throughout the body.

The same research team first identified gerozymes in 2023. Previous studies showed that 15-PGDH plays a major role in age-related muscle decline in mice. When researchers block the protein, older animals gain muscle mass and endurance. When the protein is artificially increased in young mice, their muscles become weaker and smaller.

Scientists have also linked 15-PGDH to the regeneration of bone, nerve, and blood cells.

In addition to stopping shingles, shingles vaccine may protect against dementia

Shingles is nasty, but researchers find a side benefit to getting vaccinated

Meghan Holohan

Receiving the recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV), which prevents herpes zoster (HZ), commonly known as shingles, within a year of entering or leaving a US nursing home dramatically lowers the risk of a dementia diagnosis for up to four years.

The study, published yesterday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, reinforces past observational research suggesting the same.

While previous research found that the live attenuated HZ vaccine reduced the likelihood of a dementia diagnosis, the researchers in this study wondered if RZV provided the same benefit. The paper found that receiving a dose of RZV was associated with a 5.8-percentage-point lower risk of a dementia diagnosis for up to four years.

“[That] translates to about one in 17 dementia cases potentially being prevented through vaccination,” lead author Kaley Hayes, PharmD, PhD, associate director of pharmacoepidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health, told CIDRAP News. “We were honestly taken aback by the results. However, they actually are consistent with other studies that have primarily included the older form of the vaccine.” 

Doctors May Need To Rethink Calcium and Vitamin D Recommendations After Major Review

Might not really help prevent broken bones

By BMJ Group

Calcium and vitamin D supplements, whether taken separately or together, provide little to no meaningful benefit in preventing fractures or falls in most older adults, according to a major review published in The BMJ.

Nearly one in three adults age 65 and older experiences a fall each year. Many of these falls lead to fractures, which can cause pain, lower quality of life, and increase the need for assisted living or residential care. As a result, reducing falls and fractures remains a major public health goal worldwide.

Earlier reviews have also found little evidence that calcium or vitamin D supplements reduce fracture risk, and findings on combined supplementation have been inconsistent. The role of vitamin D in preventing falls has also remained uncertain.

Even so, many doctors, health guidelines, and regulatory agencies continue to recommend vitamin D supplements, with or without calcium, to support bone health. Prescriptions for these supplements have also risen significantly in recent years.

Scientists warn that current vitamin B12 guidelines may be putting your brain at risk

“Normal” vitamin B12 levels may still leave older adults vulnerable to hidden brain damage and cognitive decline

University of California - San Francisco

Vitamin B12 is best known for helping the body make DNA, red blood cells, and healthy nerve tissue. But research suggests that simply meeting the current minimum standard may not always be enough, especially for older adults.

A UCSF led study found that healthy older people with lower vitamin B12 levels, even when those levels still fell within the accepted normal range, showed signs of subtle neurological and cognitive problems. The findings raise a provocative possibility: some people may be told their B12 status is fine while their brains are already showing early signs of strain.

"Normal" B12 May Not Always Mean Optimal

The study, published in Annals of Neurology, looked at older adults who did not have dementia or mild cognitive impairment. Even in this relatively healthy group, lower levels of active B12 were linked to slower thinking, slower visual processing, and more visible injury in the brain's white matter. White matter is made up of the nerve fibers that allow different parts of the brain to communicate.

3 Medical Routines That Older People May Not Need

One benefit of aging

By Paula Span

Enough time had passed since the patient’s previous colonoscopy that she met the criteria to undergo another, said Steven Itzkowitz, a gastroenterologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

She was in “reasonably good health,” and the risks of the procedure — bleeding, reaction to anesthesia, perforation of her colon — were fairly low. But she was 85. And she would need to briefly discontinue the blood thinners she took because of the cardiac stents keeping her arteries open; doing so could increase the risks.

Had Itzkowitz and his patient faced this decision five years ago, he might have scheduled the screening “without even thinking about it,” he said. But recent research has shown again that the benefits of a repeat colonoscopy are slim after age 75.

Now, he said, “I’m saying to myself, ‘What are we accomplishing here?’”

He’s not the only doctor — or patient — having second thoughts. The risks and benefits of common screenings, procedures, and drugs add up differently at advanced ages, and research continues to point out fresh examples of some that may become unnecessary.

Recently, investigators have taken on questions about common skin lesions that probably don’t need to be removed, a widely used thyroid medication that many older patients can safely discontinue, and colonoscopies that reduce colon cancer mortality so slightly that the risks may outweigh the benefits.

Scientists discover why Alzheimer’s risk hits women so much harder

By the numbers

University of California - San Diego

Why are women more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease?
 - Harvard Health

Women not only face higher rates of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, but new research suggests they may also be more strongly affected by several common risk factors linked to cognitive decline.

Scientists at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine analyzed data from more than 17,000 middle aged and older adults and found that certain modifiable dementia risk factors appear to have a greater impact on women's cognitive function than men's. 

The findings were published May 19, 2026, in Biology of Sex Differences.

Targeted supplements can support healthy aging in some older adults, but unnecessary or excessive use may do more harm than good

Nutrition experts emphasize food quality and protein intake first

By Miguel G. Borda, Universidad de Navarra, and George E. Barreto, University of Limerick

Give me some of this (but not him)

The use of dietary supplements has risen rapidly in recent years. Vitamins, minerals, and other nutrition products are commonly promoted as easy ways to increase energy, strengthen the immune system, support brain function, and even extend lifespan. For many people, taking supplements seems like a smart step toward maintaining good health.

However, that assumption is not always accurate. People who already get enough nutrients from their diet often see little to no clear benefit from many supplements. In some cases, supplements are simply an added cost with limited value. They can also carry risks. Large amounts of certain vitamins and minerals may cause toxicity, interact with medications, or lead to other unwanted health effects.

For older adults, however, the picture is more complicated. The most useful question is not simply whether supplements are “good” or “bad,” but whether someone is actually deficient, what might be causing that deficiency, and whether a supplement is the safest way to address it.

New Research Shows Vitamin B12 May Hold the Key to Healthy Aging

 Vitamin B12 may shape metabolism and aging more than previously understood.

By Laura Reiley, Cornell University

Vitamin B12 is typically associated with red blood cells and nerve health, but new research from Cornell University suggests its influence reaches much deeper into how the body produces energy and maintains muscle.

The study, published in the Journal of Nutrition, reveals previously unrecognized ways that B12 supports cellular metabolism. It also identifies early warning signals in the body that may detect nutritional strain long before classic deficiency symptoms appear.

"Everything checked out PERFECTLY!"

His Physical and Mental Decline Are Linked

Robert Reich

I do not wish Trump ill. While he hasn’t shown a shred of compassion for anyone other than himself, this doesn’t justify our lacking compassion for him.

It’s also in the interest of America and the world that he be physically and mentally able to discharge the duties of his office.

So we have reason to be concerned about Trump’s visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center early Tuesday for what the White House called a “routine annual dental and medical assessment.”

Trump turns 80 next month. I feel entitled to comment on the practical meaning of this milestone because I’ll also turn 80 next month (he was born 10 days before me).

Let’s just say that reaching it doesn’t mean altogether good things, unless you consider the alternative.

Even in a healthy person, small things begin to break down as one approaches 80. Everything takes just a bit more time and effort. Joints ache. Energy isn’t quite as abundant.

The 80-year-old mind isn’t as quick. The frontal lobe’s capacity to remember names goes to shit. (Yesterday, I could barely remember the name of a garage mechanic whom I’ve known for nearly half a century.)

Taken separately, such minor frailties are typically no more than a personal frustration, but they begin to mount up. In a president of the United States, they can pose a major challenge to the nation and world.

Trump frequently proclaims he’s in excellent health. “Just finished my 6 month physical at Walter Reed Military Medical Center. Everything checked out PERFECTLY,” he wrote on Truth Social early yesterday afternoon. “Thank you to the great Doctors and Staff! Heading back to the White House.”

But even “PERFECTLY” is a relative concept for someone ending his seventh decade and beginning his eighth, who’s the oldest person to assume the presidency and the second-oldest to hold the office. (Joe Biden was 82 when he left in 2025.)

Presidents aren’t legally required to release their medical records, but, given the effluvium of lies in which Trump permanently floats, we’d be excused if we didn’t entirely trust this PERFECTLY report.

Plus, there are his bruised hands, swollen ankles, bouts of drowsiness, exceedingly long blinks during official meetings (some call them “naps”), and erratic — if not off-the-charts weird — behavior.

Add in the frequency of his health “checkups.”

Retirees Are Worried About the Cost of Healthcare – and Who Can Blame Them?

Rising premiums, deductibles, co-pays, supplemental coverage and out of pocket costs hurt

Alicia H. Munnell 

The 10-percent increase in Medicare Part B premiums for 2026 has reignited concerns about how much Social Security and total income people will have after they cover their out-of-pocket (OOP) health spending.  Fortunately, my colleague Matt Rutledge has updated earlier research to answer precisely that question.

Even though retirees ages 65+ have Medicare, they still face considerable costs. In the case of Medicare Part A, which covers inpatient hospital care and is financed primarily by payroll taxes, beneficiaries face cost-sharing. Medicare Part B, which covers physician and outpatient hospital services, and Part D, which covers prescription drugs, are partly financed by premiums and include further cost-sharing. 

Because Medicare’s OOP costs are often substantial, many enrollees buy supplemental coverage, which may include additional premiums. Finally, many services, such as dental, vision, and hearing, are not covered by Medicare.

To identify total out-of-pocket healthcare costs, Matt used the 2018, 2020, and 2022 Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The sample included respondents who were ages 65+ and were receiving both Social Security and Medicare. In terms of expenditures, the HRS captures prescription drugs, special facilities, surgery, and medical visits to doctors, hospitals, and dentists. It also includes self-reported premiums paid for Medicare Part D, Medicare Advantage, and private supplemental plans. Medicare Part B income-related premiums were estimated based on the individual’s income. 

The central finding was the percentage of Social Security left after paying out-of-pocket health costs and how those results changed over the three surveys. As shown in Figure 1, the median percentage remaining in 2022 after medical OOP spending was 71 percent for Social Security benefits and 88 percent for total income. And these percentages were virtually unchanged over the three surveys.

In other words, OOP takes a big chuck of retirees’ resources, and the 10-percent increase in Medicare Part B premium suggests no relief on the horizon.

The brain's night shift: How sleep, waste clearance and dementia may be linked

Maybe it's a bad idea to spend all night shit-posting on social media

By University of Rochester Medical Center

Edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Robert Egan

Why are conditions such as chronic stress, depression, cardiovascular disease, fragmented sleep, and aging all associated with a higher risk of dementia? 

In a new review piece in Science, University of Rochester Medicine neuroscientist Maiken Nedergaard, MD, DMSc, proposes that many of these seemingly different conditions may converge on the same biological problem: disruption of a sleep-dependent brain rhythm that helps clear waste from the brain.

The article presents a new way of thinking about sleep, not simply as a period of rest, but as a highly organized biological state that coordinates brain chemistry, blood vessel movement, and cerebrospinal fluid flow to support the brain's nightly cleaning process.

The piece also points to a potential biomarker, heart rate variability, which can already be tracked with consumer wearables, as a simple, noninvasive way to assess sleep-related brain health and identify people at increased risk for cognitive decline.

Watch what you say

Your “um” and pauses could reveal early dementia risk

Baycrest Corporate Centre for Geriatric Care

The little pauses, “ums,” and moments when you struggle to find the right word may reveal far more about your brain than anyone realized. Researchers discovered that everyday speech patterns are closely tied to executive function — the mental system that powers memory, planning, focus, and flexible thinking. 

By using AI to analyze natural conversations, the team found they could predict cognitive performance with surprising accuracy, potentially opening the door to simple speech-based tools that could detect early signs of dementia long before traditional testing does.

The way people speak during ordinary conversations could offer valuable insight into brain health, according to new research from Baycrest, the University of Toronto, and York University. Scientists found that subtle speech characteristics, including pauses, filler words such as ('uh,' 'um'), and difficulty retrieving words, are closely connected to executive function, the group of mental abilities involved in memory, planning, attention, and flexible thinking.

The findings provide some of the strongest evidence so far linking natural speech patterns with key cognitive abilities. The work also expands on earlier research showing that older adults who speak more quickly tend to maintain stronger thinking skills over time (Wei et al., 2024).