Drs. Seymour Reichlin and Esther Sternberg exterior Vivace’s Restaurant, overlooking Tucson, Arizona, U.S. skyline. April 2024. Credit score: Dr. Mark Abrams.
A viewpoint article printed in Mind Medication. by Dr. Esther Sternberg offers a compelling portrait of how one pioneering neuroscientist continues to thrive past his centennial 12 months.
The tribute to Dr. Seymour Reichlin, printed as a part of a particular Festschrift commemorating his one hundredth birthday, examines the multifaceted parts which have sustained his outstanding mental vigor and social vitality at 101 years outdated.
Dr. Sternberg, who has directed analysis on the Andrew Weil Heart for Integrative Medication on the College of Arizona, traces a 35-year relationship with Dr. Reichlin that developed from skilled evaluate to mentorship to enduring friendship. Her evaluation reveals patterns of habits and mindset that align with rising analysis on distinctive longevity and cognitive preservation.
A dwelling legend in neuroendocrinology
This text is printed as a part of a particular Festschrift commemorating the centennial of Dr. Seymour Reichlin, a pioneering determine in neuroendocrinology and immunology.
As a distinguished physician-scientist, Dr. Reichlin has made groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of endocrine-immune interactions, notably by way of his landmark 1993 New England Journal of Medication evaluate proposing IL-6 as an important mediator of neural-immune interactions throughout stress.
At 100 years outdated, he stays an energetic and intellectually vibrant member of the scientific group, having educated most of the present leaders in endocrinology and neuroendocrinology. This particular concern honors his enduring legacy and the profound influence of his work on fashionable drugs, whereas celebrating his standing as a task mannequin for wholesome growing older.
The perspective identifies a number of interconnected elements contributing to Dr. Reichlin’s distinctive well being span. Analysis by Dr. Sheldon Cohen and Dr. Bruce Rabin demonstrated almost three many years in the past that constructive relationships correlate with diminished stress and sickness, findings persistently validated in subsequent research.
Dr. Sternberg notes that Dr. Reichlin exemplifies this precept by way of his abundance of significant connections spanning a number of generations of scientists he has mentored.
Past social networks: Goal and surprise
The evaluation extends past easy social connectivity to look at the standard and intentionality of those relationships. Dr. Sternberg observes that “Maintaining friendships across decades and continents requires deliberate effort,” noting Dr. Reichlin’s apply of sustaining connections by way of shared meals and visits regardless of geographic distances.
This aligns with analysis on populations with excessive percentages of centenarians, which means that assorted intergenerational relationships contribute to prolonged well being spans.
Central to Dr. Reichlin’s vitality is his persistent scientific curiosity and sense of objective. Effectively into his nineties, he spoke at a 2016 convention in Iran on mysticism and neuroendocrinology, subsequently growing new analysis pursuits within the neuroscience of religious and transcendental experiences.
Dr. Sternberg characterizes this as emblematic of his lifelong sample: an openness to new experiences mixed with rigorous scientific inquiry.
Drs. Seymor Reichlin and Esther Sternberg sharing fun over a birthday dinner—April 2024. Credit score: Dr. Mark Abrams.
The neuroscience of laughter and resilience
The perspective highlights Dr. Reichlin’s strong humorousness as one other contributing issue to his longevity. Analysis popularized by Norman Cousins and subsequently supported by mechanistic research demonstrates that laughter impacts dopaminergic methods, reduces blood strain, and enhances total psychological well being.
Dr. Sternberg notes that Dr. Reichlin’s capability to generate and share laughter strengthens the social bonds that analysis has recognized as protecting in opposition to cognitive decline and bodily deterioration.
Viktor Frankl’s work on that means as a vital ingredient for resilience resonates all through Dr. Sternberg’s portrait. She observes that Dr. Reichlin maintains a number of domains of that means: his ongoing scientific investigations, his position as a dwelling repository of neuroendocrinology’s historical past, his creative pursuits as a grasp woodworker creating satirical sculptures, and his exploration of consciousness by way of the lens of neuroendocrinology.
The tribute additionally acknowledges Dr. Reichlin’s cognitive method to growing older itself. Relatively than viewing limitations as sources of misery, he maintains what Dr. Sternberg describes as curiosity and equanimity about his scenario. This psychological stance aligns with analysis on profitable growing older that emphasizes the significance of adaptive coping methods and constructive reframing of age-related modifications.
Implications for understanding wholesome growing older
Dr. Sternberg’s evaluation offers a naturalistic case examine of things related to distinctive cognitive and social functioning in superior age. The convergence of social engagement, mental stimulation, purposeful exercise, humor, and religious exploration in Dr. Reichlin’s life provides a template in line with up to date longevity analysis whereas highlighting the significance of particular person company in cultivating these protecting elements.
The perspective means that Dr. Reichlin’s instance challenges standard assumptions about growing older trajectories. His continued analysis productiveness, together with present investigations into molecular mechanisms of transcendental experiences, demonstrates that mental contribution needn’t diminish with chronological age when supporting elements stay intact.
This viewpoint article represents a priceless contribution to our understanding of profitable growing older, offering each private testimony and scientific evaluation of the elements supporting distinctive longevity.
By inspecting the lived expertise of a centenarian scientist who continues to thrive intellectually and socially, the creator provides insights that complement quantitative longevity analysis with qualitative remark. The synthesis introduced right here serves as each a tribute to a person scientist and a broader meditation on the probabilities of human growing older when a number of protecting elements converge.
Such views are important for growing complete fashions of wholesome growing older that acknowledge each common patterns and particular person variations within the growing older course of.
Extra data:
A Tribute to Dr. Seymour Reichlin—A job mannequin for vibrant longevity, Mind Medication (2025). DOI: 10.61373/bm025v.0107
Offered by
Genomic Press
Quotation:
Centenarian neuroscientist evokes blueprint for vibrant longevity by way of mentorship and connection (2025, September 9)
retrieved 9 September 2025
from https://medicalxpress.com/information/2025-09-centenarian-neuroscientist-blueprint-vibrant-longevity.html
This doc is topic to copyright. Other than any honest dealing for the aim of personal examine or analysis, no
half could also be reproduced with out the written permission. The content material is supplied for data functions solely.
