In a study of fruit flies, researchers from University of Iowa found that fast-aging fruit flies lived longer when placed with normal fruit flies -- which means spending time with younger people could extend human lives, too.
Want to stockpile some extra time for the end of your golden years? In that case, you may want to skip the early-bird dinners and head for the bars instead: According to a new study, hanging out with a younger crowd could actually increase your lifespan.
Before you send Grandma on a trip to Hot Topic to pick up some clubbing gear, we should point out that the study isn’t quite definitive at this point: Its subjects were fruit flies. In the University of Iowa study, researchers placed some of their “fast-aging” fruit flies with normal fruit flies, and grouped others with fellow fast-agers. The results were striking: The fast-agers placed with normal fruit flies lived twice as long as the others, and also tested better for physical response and dealing with environmental stresses than those kept within a strictly fast-aging fruit fly community.
The results “provide a definitive case of beneficial social interaction on lifespan and a useful entry point for analysing the underlying molecular networks and physiological mechanisms,” claim the researchers, who believe that the results could be applied to humans as well. So if you’re approaching senior citizen status, you may want to call your granddaughter for a lunch date. Who knows? It just might add some extra days to your life - or, at the very least, you can finally figure out what an iPod is.