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In everyday conceptions, people have a tendency to treat aging pri-marily as a phenomenon of decline. Individuals such as the octogenarian concert pianist Vladimir Horowitz or 70-year-old marathon runners who beat well-trained 30-year-olds are treated as exceptions to the rule of old age as a time of decay and loss. We believe that much of the prevailing negative image of old age is influenced by the fact that in their everyday lives, people focus on outward bodily appearance and the age-correlated increase in illnesses, including such anxiety-provoking illnesses as Alzheimer's disease.