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Hannah Samira Schmidt

“What Longevity Really Means to Me as a Biomedical Scientist”

For biomedical scientist Hannah Samira Schmidt, longevity is closely tied to connection.
Longevity needs connection—Hannah Samira Schmidt explains what she means Photo: Getty Images, Alberto Granzotto granzottophoto; Collage: FITBOOK
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December 15, 2025, 8:19 am | Read time: 4 minutes

When we talk about longevity, the same recommendations always come up: optimize nutrition, build muscle, sleep better, reduce stress, and maintain social contacts. All important, but in my view, this falls short. Longevity is not just about cell optimization but the interplay of systems. At FITBOOK, I explain why, as a biomedical scientist, I focus differently on longevity than many others—namely, on connection. Find out below what I mean by that.

Healthy Aging Means Staying Connected

Longevity is a systemic phenomenon. I have been working for years with psychoneuroimmunology, which studies the interactions between the psyche, nervous system, immune system, and environment. Thoughts, emotions, stress, relationships, and environmental stimuli influence immune system activity and thus inflammation and aging processes. We age not only due to physical factors but also because of the quality of our internal and external connections.

Connection Begins in the Body

The gut is one of the central communication organs. Through the microbiome, immune messengers, and the gut-brain axis, information is constantly processed. If this communication is disrupted—by dysbiosis or barrier problems—the system responds with inflammation.

Clear signals are also needed between the nervous and immune systems: “What is dangerous? What is not?” If this communication is lacking, it leads to overreactions or misreactions—silent inflammation, exhaustion, or autoimmune mechanisms.

Healthy aging means: Our systems must be able to communicate with each other.

The Connection to Ourselves

An area that is rarely addressed is the perception of one’s own body. Interoception—the ability to perceive internal signals—is a key factor for self-regulation. If we ignore these signals, the body continuously works against its limits. The stress axes destabilize, and inflammation increases. Self-awareness is not a wellness term but a biological protective factor.

The Connection to Others

Social security is one of the strongest predictors of health. Studies show: Isolation increases inflammation markers and the risk of death, similar to classic risk factors. Important here: Loneliness does not arise from being alone but from a lack of a sense of belonging.

Humans biologically regulate themselves through resonance with others. Secure social connections stabilize the autonomic nervous system, promote vagal activity, and dampen stress reactions—processes that measurably slow aging.

Connection to Nature

Light, temperature, microbes, rhythms—natural stimuli calm the nervous system and stabilize the immune and hormonal systems. That’s why contact with nature is increasingly being scientifically studied, among other things, in the context of stress reduction, anti-inflammatory effects, and emotional regulation.

More on the topic

Connection to Something Greater

And then there is a level that is hardly considered in the longevity discussion, although it is biologically relevant: meaning and spiritual connectedness. This does not mean religion, but an inner sense of direction, embedding, and meaning. Whether you call it God, the universe, intelligence, or life, it doesn’t matter.1

This feeling creates something central in psychoneuroimmunology: inner security. And security is the foundation of any biological regeneration. Studies show: Meaning reduces inflammation, stabilizes the stress axes, and improves emotional regulation. Meaning is not an abstract concept but a stabilizing factor in the stress system.

These effects are measurable:

  • The periaqueductal gray (PAG) responds to security, compassion, and belonging.
  • The vagus nerve becomes more active as soon as the system registers security. This reduces inflammation, lowers heart rate, and stabilizes metabolic processes.2
  • The insula connects body perception and self-awareness, making regulation possible.3

Connection—on any level—is thus not a bonus factor but a biological necessity.

What This Means for Longevity

In the end, longevity is not about how much we optimize. It’s about how well our system is in contact with life. A body that feels secure—through meaning, clear signals, and connection—functions differently than a body that is constantly in a state of alarm. It regenerates better, responds more precisely, and ages more slowly. Everything else is optimization without a foundation.

For me, longevity does not mean “doing more,” but arriving in life. Being connected. Being regulated. That’s where energy, healing, and life arise. Healthy aging means creating a system that can sustain itself—not through perfection, but through connection.

This article is a machine translation of the original German version of FITBOOK and has been reviewed for accuracy and quality by a native speaker. For feedback, please contact us at info@fitbook.de.

Sources

  1. Ferguson, M.A., Schaper, F.L.W.V.J., Cohen, A. et al. (2022). A Neural Circuit for Spirituality and Religiosity Derived From Patients With Brain Lesions. Biol Psychiatry. ↩︎
  2. Pérez-Alcalde, A.I., Galán-Del-Río, F., Fernández-Rodríguez, F.J. et al. (2024). The Effects of a Single Vagus Nerve's Neurodynamics on Heart Rate Variability in Chronic Stress: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Sensors (Basel). ↩︎
  3. Zhang, R., Deng, H., Xiao, X.(2024). The Insular Cortex: An Interface Between Sensation, Emotion and Cognition. Neurosci Bull. ↩︎
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