New Research: Does Purpose in Life Help Your Brain?

Almost four years ago I published an article entitled “Purpose is Key to Third Third Flourishing.” In this article, I cited a piece from The Washington Post that mentioned research showing that having purpose in life can help someone with Alzheimer’s disease function “relatively well.” That got my attention, as you can well imagine. I decided at that point to look for other evidence that links purpose in life with brain health and overall flourishing.

4 Studies That Link Brain Health to Flourishing

Recently, I’ve discovered four academic studies that show a powerful association between purpose and cognitive well-being. In this article I’d like to summarize the findings of these studies and then offer some concluding reflections.

Purpose in life correlates with measurable brain health

Can you measure the way purpose in life affects brain health?

That’s what scholars from the University of Wisconsin-Madison sought to do in recent research. They “tested the hypothesis that higher levels of self-reported feelings of purpose in life would be associated with better brain health.” Using a standard purpose in life scale and MRI data from 138 older adults, they found that a “greater sense of purpose in life was associated with brain microstructural features consistent with better brain health.” They concluded that “an enhanced sense of purpose in life may contribute to better brain health and promote healthy aging.”

[Researchers] concluded that “an enhanced sense of purpose in life may contribute to better brain health and promote healthy aging.”

Purpose helps your brain process more quickly

Does a sense of purpose in life help your brain work more effectively?

Investigators sought to answer this question with participants from the Couples Healthy Aging Project at Florida State University. For several days, participants were contacted on their smartphones and asked to rate their sense of purpose and then complete several short cognitive tests. Researchers found that “when participants felt more purpose driven than their average, they had faster processing speed.”

The article concludes by suggesting that a purpose-based intervention might help middle-aged adults have a better transition into older adulthood. This conclusion reflects the widely documented observation that our brains tend to slow down as we age. Though this isn’t always bad, the possibility of purpose helping our brains remain youthful is encouraging.

Higher meaning and purpose mean lower risk of dementia

Do people with a higher sense of meaning and purpose in life have a lower risk of developing dementia?

Researchers from Florida State University and the University of Montpellier in France examined data from UK Biobank, a study of more than 150,000 people living in the United Kingdom. Participants who indicated a higher feeling of meaning in life had a significant “decreased risk of all-cause dementia.” A similar association was found between meaning/purpose and Alzheimer’s Disease. The researchers conclude, “The present research supports the growing literature that meaning and purpose in life has a robust association with lower risk of developing dementia.”

Purpose in life may delay Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia

Is “a higher level of purpose in life associated with an older age of Alzheimer’s dementia onset and later mortality?”

Scholars from Rush University Medical Center, a leading institution in brain science, designed a study to “test the hypothesis that a higher level of purpose in life is associated with an older age of Alzheimer’s dementia onset and later mortality.” Based on the findings from over 2,500 study participants, the researchers found that a “higher level of purpose in life was associated with a considerably later age of dementia onset.” Specifically, those with a higher level of purpose developed Alzheimer’s at 95 years of age, compared to 89 years for those with low purpose. The study also found that older adults with high purpose tended to live four years longer than those with low purpose (89 years vs. 85 years). The basic conclusion of the study: “Purpose in life delays dementia onset and mortality by several years.”

Based on the findings from over 2,500 study participants, the researchers found that a “higher level of purpose in life was associated with a considerably later age of dementia onset.”

Reflections

These studies are four among many that document the striking association between purpose in life and brain health. On the one hand, they show that purpose can help our brains function more quickly, like younger brains. On the other hand, the studies point to the close connection between purpose in life and less cognitive impairment.

It’s important to note that these studies do not prove a causal connection between purpose and brain health, though causality is sometimes implied and/or explored. It seems likely to many psychological experts, as well as to a neurological novice like me, that having purpose in life leads us to live in ways that are documented to improve brain health. For example, the “Purpose in life as resilience” study I summarized above suggests that

“leading a meaningful and worthwhile life is associated with better lifestyle choices such as exercise and diet, sleep quality, better mental health and physical fitness, stronger personal and social relationships, prosocial activities such as volunteering and even greater financial outcomes. Several of these behaviors are related to better brain health.”

Of course, it also seems likely that older adults with healthy brains might be more inclined to live with purpose than those who experience significant cognitive impairment. The link between purpose and brain health is a two-way street.

I certainly want to live with purpose in the third third of my life so that I might have a healthy brain. But, as a Christian, my motivation for having a purposeful life isn’t only my own flourishing. Rather, I want to live in a way that honors and glorifies the God who created me, saved me, and called me to share in the divine purpose. According to Romans 8:28, “We know that God works all things together for good for the ones who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose” (CEB). God gives us purpose in life by calling us to participate in God’s purpose for all things. Thus, when we live with God-given purpose, we not only experience greater physical and cognitive health, but also we live “for the praise of God’s glory” (Ephesians 1:12).

But, as a Christian, my motivation for having a purposeful life isn’t only my own flourishing. Rather, I want to live in a way that honors and glorifies the God who created me, saved me, and called me to share in the divine purpose.