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Subconsciously feeding healthy elderly people positive images of aging — words like "wise" and "astute" instead of downers like "senile" or "diseased" — was all it took to pick up their walking pace, says a study that suggests stereotypes about getting old can significantly affect how people function. 

How well older people walk can predict their future health and independence. Falls are a huge health problem that many older people fear, and doctors recommend exercise programs for even the very elderly to strengthen muscles important for walking and balance.

But the study, published today in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, suggests the mind also may play a powerful role, and bleak expectations of aging may unduly influence even healthy people to walk in a slow and wobbly manner.

"The effects are pretty profound," said lead researcher Jeffrey Hausdorff, a gerontologist at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center who invented thin, electronic shoe soles that precisely measure gait.

"It means we need to think about trying to reduce the stereotypes of aging," he added.