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The longing for youth and the fear of aging. In the film <The Substance>, a retired 50-year-old former star regains youth through a mysterious drug. The movie grotesquely portrays one of humanity’s most primal desires. Of course, the story is fictional. But the questions it raises no longer remain within the realm of science fiction. Aging may not be an unavoidable fate after all.
Slow Aging Becomes a Defining Trend
“Slow aging” has become a keyword that runs through Korean society in recent years. It has evolved beyond a simple trend into a cultural phenomenon. From the MZ generation to middle-aged adults, people no longer aim simply to live longer. Instead, they focus on living longer in good health—and above all, on “aging well.”
Online media such as YouTube and blogs are flooded with self-care content like “slow aging routines” and “slow aging diets.” As a result, consumption habits are changing. Choosing multigrain rice over white rice or extra virgin olive oil over regular cooking oil is no longer a special decision. Intermittent fasting, low-sugar snacks, and antioxidant-rich foods have become part of everyday life, not just for health enthusiasts.
This shift has also brought noticeable changes to the food and health supplement industries. Moving beyond traditional supplement-centered markets, high-function products emphasizing antioxidant effects and anti-aging are gaining attention. Plant-based ingredients, microbiome-based solutions, and personalized products using genetic analysis are emerging as new growth drivers.
What stands out is that all these changes are rooted in a shift in how we perceive aging. Aging is no longer an unavoidable destiny. It can be managed. It can be delayed. Perhaps it can even be reversed. This is the new perspective through which we now view aging.
Aging as a Disease
Harvard Medical School geneticist David Sinclair, in his 2019 book Lifespan, defines aging not as an unavoidable natural phenomenon, but as a disease that can be intervened in and treated through science.
This claim is not merely philosophical provocation. Sinclair is a world-renowned geneticist studying the molecular mechanisms of aging. Over decades, he has led research into cellular aging processes such as NAD+ metabolism, sirtuin proteins, and chromatin stability. He has not stopped at theory—he publicly shared the supplements he takes and his biological age measurements. He claims his biological age is more than 10 years younger than his actual age. This sparked debate, skepticism, and anticipation across both the scientific community and the public. For thousands of years, humanity has accepted aging as fate. But scientists like Sinclair now ask: Why must we age? And do we really have to?
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“There is no biological law that says we must age.” — <Lifespan>
Aging is Like Scratches on a CD
According to Sinclair, aging is the process by which cells gradually lose their function. To explain this, he compares DNA within cells to a music CD. At first, the CD plays perfectly, but over time scratches form on its surface. The playback device can no longer read the data correctly. The music becomes distorted. The track still exists, but it no longer plays as it once did.
The DNA sequence itself does not change. However, when epigenetic markers—which regulate gene expression—are damaged, cells can no longer perform their original functions. Sinclair calls this phenomenon “epigenetic information loss.” Based on this, he proposed the Information Theory of Aging. The idea is simple: rather than mutations or telomere shortening, aging occurs because cells gradually lose the ability to interpret and maintain the “information” that defines their identity and function.
This theory has been partially validated through experiments. Sinclair’s team artificially damaged the DNA of young mice. The genetic sequence remained unchanged, but the mice rapidly showed signs of aging—their fur turned gray, organ function declined, and aging-related cells accumulated. This suggests that aging may not simply be the result of cellular wear or genetic damage, but rather a breakdown of the cell’s internal information system.
The Breakthrough of Reversing Time
If so, how can aging be reversed? Sinclair proposes cellular reprogramming as a solution—resetting the biological clock of cells, much like rebooting a computer.
At the core of this technology are the Yamanaka Factors. In 2006, Kyoto University professor Shinya Yamanaka discovered four transcription factors capable of reverting adult cells into stem cell-like states: Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc. This allowed skin cells to be “reset” to an earlier state, a breakthrough that revolutionized biology. Yamanaka was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2012.
However, this approach had limitations. Using all four factors made cells excessively young and risked turning them cancerous. To address this, Sinclair removed the most dangerous factor, c-Myc, and used the remaining three (Oct4, Sox2, Klf4) for a short duration. This method resets cells only partially rather than completely—known as partial reprogramming.
In 2020, Sinclair’s team published results in *Nature*. They injected three genes into aged mice that had lost their vision due to aging. Damaged nerve cells regenerated, and vision was restored. This was not merely a delay of aging—it was considered the first case of reversing aged cells to a younger state. Remarkably, the rejuvenated cells retained their identity: nerve cells remained nerve cells, and retinal cells functioned as retinal cells. In other words, the cells were not reset to stem cells but had their biological clocks rewound while maintaining their roles.
This experiment is significant as the first demonstration, through experimentation, that aging can be reversed biologically. It opens a new perspective that aging may not be an unavoidable fate but a controllable biological process. However, the research is still in its early stages and requires cautious interpretation. Experts note that many variables remain before this can lead to real treatments.
“Scientists around the world are attempting to rewind the biological clock of cells. The road is still long, but the meaning of ‘aging’ is clearly beginning to change.”
From Lab to Clinical Reality
The perspective of aging as a controllable biological target is now expanding beyond laboratories into clinical and industrial fields. Major pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and research institutions worldwide are accelerating related studies.
One notable example is the TAME clinical trial (Targeting Aging with Metformin), which uses the diabetes drug metformin. This study, involving approximately 3,000 adults over the age of 65 in the U.S., evaluates whether metformin can delay age-related chronic diseases. It has drawn attention because it treats aging itself—not specific diseases—as a clinical target.
Altos Labs, a biotech company launched in 2022, has also attracted global attention. It secured around $3 billion in initial funding, with Jeff Bezos reportedly among its investors. Altos Labs aims to restore damaged cellular functions through reprogramming technology, ultimately building biological systems capable of recovering from disease and aging. Its board includes leading scientists in epigenetics and regenerative medicine, including Yamanaka.
Other companies such as Calico, Retro Biosciences, and Unity Biotechnology are also actively operating in this field. They target various aging-related pathways, including senescent cell removal, telomere extension, and NAD+ restoration, attracting investments ranging from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars.
A New Way of Living May Emerge
Scientific approaches to aging are entering a new phase. Researchers and companies worldwide are experimenting with ways to rewind the biological clock of cells. The road ahead is long, but through these efforts, the very definition of aging is gradually changing.
In the near future, it may not be unusual to visit a hospital, receive a diagnosis of your biological age, and be prescribed personalized anti-aging interventions. The familiar structures of life—education, work, retirement, old age—may be redefined. Whether aging will one day be overcome like a disease, or remain an inevitable part of human existence, is still unknown. But even now, science is slowly unraveling the long-standing mystery of aging. At the end of this path may lie forms of life we have yet to imagine.
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Smartphones Are Ruining Your Brain
A high school student visited a clinic. He reported having tic symptoms that caused involuntary “sniffing” sounds. Because it disrupted his classmates’ studying, he sought treatment. Tics are often temporary, so they are sometimes monitored over time. However, since his symptoms were affecting others, medication was recommended. Fortunately, the symptoms improved without major side effects.
Even after improvement, however, the tics occasionally reappeared—especially when using a smartphone.
From this case, where symptoms worsened immediately after smartphone use, we can infer that smartphones have a negative effect on the brain. However, in general, problems do not appear instantly when using smartphones. This is why many people underestimate their impact and continue to spend long hours on them.
Recently, many studies have explored the relationship between smartphone use and the dopamine system. Researchers at Radboud University in the Netherlands used PET imaging to confirm a correlation between smartphone use—particularly social media—and dopamine secretion. The results showed that higher social media usage was associated with reduced dopamine synthesis capacity. In other words, the more you use social media, the weaker your dopamine system becomes.
A study from King Saud University also examined the link between smartphone use and cognitive function. Using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), researchers found that longer smartphone usage was associated with lower MoCA scores—indicating reduced cognitive function. This suggests that excessive smartphone use may directly impair cognition.
Endless Scrolling, Endless Stimulation
How does smartphone use weaken the dopamine system and reduce cognitive function? Smartphone apps are designed to stimulate dopamine release. As a result, using smartphones leads to excessive dopamine secretion.
Many people misunderstand dopamine as a “reward substance.” However, dopamine is not the reward itself—it is released in anticipation of a reward. When there is a possibility of receiving a reward, dopamine increases alertness and motivation, raising the likelihood of obtaining it.
Smartphones exploit this anticipation. Even when simply looking at the screen, we think:
“Did someone message me?”
“Is there a new interesting video?”
This expectation persists as we scroll, causing dopamine to be continuously released. Furthermore, most apps are designed for infinite scrolling, encouraging endless dopamine stimulation.
Of course, smartphones are not the only factor that disrupts the dopamine system. Alcohol, tobacco, highly stimulating food, gaming, and shopping can also negatively impact it when overused. In the case of gambling or drugs, even limited exposure can severely damage the dopamine system. Drugs, in particular, directly affect dopamine receptors, making normal dopamine function impossible in everyday life.
A Life Without Flow
Reduced dopamine function does not only affect attention—it significantly lowers overall life satisfaction. When we are fully immersed in something, the dopamine system generates strong feelings of pleasure and fulfillment. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi described this state as “flow.” In a flow state, we experience enjoyment and satisfaction from the activity itself, even without external rewards.
We often experience flow while working or studying. The pleasure gained from such moments motivates us to continue. However, people with impaired dopamine systems experience flow less frequently. Research from the Karolinska Institute found that as dopamine receptor function declines, the frequency of flow experiences decreases significantly.
As a result, reduced dopamine function not only lowers concentration but also diminishes meaningful engagement in life—leading to decreased motivation and overall satisfaction.
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Your Brain Needs Rest
So how can we restore dopamine function and improve cognitive performance and life satisfaction? One proposed solution is “dopamine fasting.”
Recently, intermittent fasting has gained popularity as a health strategy. While fasting itself has long existed for religious or biological reasons, its use for “health” and “diet” became widespread after 2012. Studies from Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and the NIH have shown benefits such as improved blood sugar control, metabolic health, and weight loss.
The same concept applies to dopamine. Modern society overstimulates our dopamine system through smartphones and other addictive stimuli. This leads to dysfunction in everyday life. Dopamine fasting works by removing the sources of excessive stimulation, allowing the system to recover naturally.
Research on addiction shows that when addictive behaviors are stopped, dopamine function gradually recovers.
A simple and effective method is to set specific times when you do not use your smartphone. For example, one rule is:
“Do not check your phone before meeting your first patient.”
This allows you to use your morning time more effectively and naturally transition into work. As a result, the first smartphone use of the day may be delayed until lunchtime.
Another rule is not using your smartphone after 10 PM. Reducing screen exposure at night helps prepare the body for sleep, as blue light suppresses melatonin and lowers sleep quality. Just these two rules can give you more than 10 hours a day free from smartphone use.
At first, this habit may cause discomfort or anxiety. However, missing a few hours of information rarely causes real problems. Just 100 years ago, people learned about events days later. Today, we receive global news within hours. While this convenience is beneficial, it also fuels constant stimulation and excessive dopamine activation.
If you feel overwhelmed by the endless flow of information, try dopamine fasting. As your dopamine system recovers, you will gain more energy, experience deeper focus more often, and ultimately increase your overall life satisfaction.
", "url": "https://www.dwcarehub.com/en/community/column/dopamine-fasting-for-your-brain", "title": "Dopamine Fasting for Your Brain", "summary": "Endless stimulation only expands a sense of emptiness. It’s time to start a “fast” before your brain’s dopamine system breaks down.", "date_modified": "2025-10-27T17:00:00.000Z", "author": { "name": "Editor Jung Ji-hwan" } }, { "id": "urn:sha256:884f4cf0a05480806fb22270b1e77b692e84f881afa79ef4d756ec91a76edcf8", "content_html": "About a decade ago, in the men’s individual épée final at the Rio Olympics, South Korea’s Park Sang-young was pushed to the brink, trailing Hungary’s veteran fencer Géza Imre by four points. Before entering the final third period, he quietly repeated to himself, “I can do it, I can do it, I can do it.” After taking a breath and lifting his sword again, he made a miraculous comeback to win 15–14 and claim the Olympic gold medal he had dreamed of. Park’s dramatic victory proved that in sport, the real turning point lies not in skill or stamina, but in mental strength.
In the face of unexpected variables and intense pressure, the person who keeps moving forward without wavering is the one who ultimately wins. In that sense, sports closely resemble life. The key question is how we manage anxiety. So how can we turn anxiety into a positive driving force?
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The Science of Success: Turning Anxiety into Momentum
Just as weight training strengthens muscles, the mind can also be strengthened through training. Unlike general psychology, which often focuses on easing depression and other difficulties, sports psychology concentrates on mental training that elevates an average mental state to an optimal one. In other words, while general psychology often aims to move a person from negative to neutral, sports psychology seeks to help them leap from neutral to positive. For this reason, sports psychology is sometimes called the science of success.
Among the many emotions it addresses, sports psychology pays particular attention to anxiety. Anxiety has two sides: when managed well, it can sharpen focus and become a powerful source of drive, but when left unmanaged, it can lead to the “yips,” a condition where even familiar movements become difficult to perform. Many athletes have experienced the yips, including Tiger Woods, Park In-bee, and tennis player Ana Ivanovic. Park In-bee, who fell into a slump after the 2008 U.S. Open due to the yips, once admitted, “The psychological pressure made it painful just to step onto the course.”
In sports psychology, anxiety is fundamentally viewed as positive energy. Lee Sang-woo, head of the sports psychology education institute Mental Performance, interprets anxiety as an emotion that comes from the desire to do well. Because anxiety is not an unwelcome intruder but a state of excited anticipation, an appropriate level of tension and anxiety can actually support strong performance. That is why he advises athletes before competition to “welcome anxiety warmly when it arrives.”
This perspective applies just as well outside the playing field. Modern life repeatedly places people in situations that demand intense concentration and sound judgment, such as presentations and work meetings, making it much like a competitive athletic environment. Lee also notes that when sports psychology is applied to everyday life, it can help people avoid being overwhelmed by anxiety and perform more effectively in their work.
Focus on What You Can Control
Where should we begin if we want to handle anxiety well? Lee says that the first step is distinguishing what is controllable from what is not. If you keep dwelling on uncontrollable future outcomes such as “Don’t make mistakes” or “Don’t fail,” you become psychologically intimidated and lose focus on the task right in front of you. To prevent this, it is important to focus only on what you can control. For example, before an important meeting, it is more effective to review your strategy and clarify your role than to fixate on the thought, “I must not mess up.”
The next important step is to focus on process cues. In general, when anxiety rises, thoughts multiply and attention becomes scattered. At that point, concentrating on a single process cue can calm the mind and improve performance. A process cue is an essential point of attention tied to a specific action. Because it comes from the methods that produced good results in the past, or the sensations associated with successful outcomes, each person’s process cue is different even when they perform the same movement. For example, for one batter it may be “Keep your eyes on the ball until the end,” while for another it may be “Keep the rotation axis stable.” Both are process cues that help improve contact and performance. When you establish your own specific process cues and focus on them, you can minimize psychological wavering and control anxiety effectively. The same principle applies when preparing for presentations and business meetings. By recalling a successful presentation and setting process cues such as “Focus on the opening sentence,” “Move your gaze slowly,” or “Speak one beat slower than usual,” you can maintain concentration and turn anxiety into self-confidence.
Give Yourself a Command
To perform at their best, athletes must regulate their level of arousal. When the right state is maintained, they enter a state of flow, where performance is maximized. If psychological energy is too low, a person becomes lethargic and loses focus. If it is too high, excessive tension and anxiety make it difficult to perform at their usual level. That is why training to interpret anxiety as positive energy and regulate one’s mental state is essential.
Lee Sang-woo emphasizes visualization and self-talk as key strategies for reaching a state of flow. Weightlifter Jang Mi-ran and footballer Park Ji-sung also used these techniques in real competition. During training, Jang Mi-ran would close her eyes and vividly imagine the course of the event and the exact result she wanted. Park Ji-sung, each time he entered the field, would repeat to himself, “I am the best player in this stadium,” transforming anxiety into positive energy.
Visualization practiced during training is a powerful tool. When you mentally rehearse a target situation and experience the feeling of success in advance, you can stay calm and focused in real situations. To be effective, however, the image should be as vivid as possible, engaging all senses—sight, sound, and touch. Before a meeting or presentation, it helps to imagine the space, the audience’s expressions and reactions, your tone of voice, the way you speak, the atmosphere in the room, and even the view outside the window. After the simulation, take time to organize key points—when to breathe deeply, when to make eye contact, and how to control your pace and tone—so you can respond more confidently in the real situation.
At the execution stage, self-talk is another effective method for regulating anxiety. By repeatedly reinforcing specific thoughts, you can influence your subconscious, shift into a positive mindset, and maximize your potential. When anxiety rises before an important decision, repeating phrases such as “You can do this,” “Be confident,” or “Be courageous” can help. If you start speaking too quickly during a presentation, simple cues like “Slower” or “Stay calm” can help you regain control.
Anxiety is not something to avoid, but a psychological resource to use. Rather than seeing anxiety in critical moments as negative, it should be accepted as a trigger for peak performance. By focusing on controllable factors and process cues, and consistently practicing visualization and self-talk, anxiety can become the most powerful fuel for success.
SUMMARY. Inner Training Methods Recommended by a Sports Psychology Expert
Distinguish between what you can control and what you cannot
Recall successful experiences and focus on your own process cues
Simulate your work environment and process in detail, and note key points for execution
When anxiety rises, repeat positive phrases such as “I can do it” and “Stay calm”
advice Lee Sang-woo (Ph.D. in Sports Psychology, Head of Mental Performance)
illustrator Jang In-beom