Want to live a very long and healthy life? Researchers with the New England Centenarian Study have identified the two personality traits that could help you get there.

A drink a day for people over 55 substantially reduces the risk of premature death, according to a study published in the March issue of The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Driving under the influence is dumb no matter how old you are, but new research suggests that older adults may be especially clueless when it comes to the consequences of a couple of glasses.

Got an aging relative in an assisted-living or long-term care facility? The best thing you can bring on your next visit might well be a houseplant. And a watering can. And a little extra potting soil.

Computer games aren’t just for kids–at least they shouldn’t be. A Mayo Clinic study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that older adults who spent an hour a day in front of a challenging game that tested mental processing speed significantly improved their memories.

Researchers have long assumed that inheritance plays the biggest role in visible signs of aging. If your mother or father looks youthful well into middle age, chances are you will, too. Not necessarily, a new study suggests.

Last week we reported that coffee can cause hallucinations. This week we have better news for javaholics: a cup of joe may offer powerful protection against age-related mental deterioration.

One more reason to pop a vitamin D pill, especially at this time of year: low levels of this essential nutrient are now linked to cognitive problems as people get older.

At 91, Merceda Schmidt still volunteers as a school teacher and piano accompanist, and she often walks to her appointments, tallying up more than three miles a week. “It’s just in my nature–the batteries I got when I was born,” says Schmidt, who lives in Calgary, Canada. “My legs want to go.” She can thank those restless legs for her unusually sharp mind, a new study suggests.

Grumpy old men? Hollywood’s version of old age may be more fancy than fact. The older we get, a new study finds, the more positive our memories are likely to be.