How it works
Three simple steps. About two weeks.
No clinics to visit, no membership to manage. You take a short assessment, give blood once, and we do the rest.
A short check, then a little blood
First, a short optimism questionnaire — five minutes online. Then stop by a Quest lab near you for a quick fasting morning draw. You are in and out in about fifteen minutes, and you never need an appointment.
Our lab gets to work
Your thirteen markers are measured at a CLIA-certified laboratory — the same kind your doctor uses. Standard, validated assays; no shortcuts.
Your Optimism Biology Report
Your Optimism Biology Score and a plain-language read of the biology behind it, reviewed by a physician. No jargon, no dashboard. Keep it, share it with your doctor — and retest down the road to see if it moved.
What you receive
Your Optimism Biology Report.
One number, and the real biology behind it — the biology the research ties to a steady, hopeful mind, and to a brain that ages well. Plain language, physician-reviewed, yours to keep.
Your Optimism Biology Score
One number that weighs the thirteen markers, led by the three that moved in an actual optimism-training trial. A clear place to start, and to track.
Thirteen markers, four pathways
Inflammation, stress hormones, the tryptophan–serotonin route, and growth factors — read as one picture, not a wall of numbers.
Your biology, next to your experience
Your results shown beside how you actually feel. When they agree, you have your answer: it is real, and it is measurable.
Reviewed by a physician
Every threshold and every line is reviewed by Dr. Srini Pillay, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist. Research, not vibes.
Optimism is where mindspan starts. It is the first lens on a larger map of how your brain ages — the rest follows as the evidence is ready.
Here is what that looks like.
A sample Optimism Biology Report for Dana, 49 — thirteen markers and a short optimism check, read as one plain-language picture.
Inflammation
Running warmhs-CRP and IL-6 are up and the anti-inflammatory IL-10 is low — the biological pattern most tied to a flatter, grayer mood, and the most reversible.
Stress resilience
ThinMorning cortisol sits high and DHEA-S is low, so the stress buffer is thin — the hormonal picture the research links directly to how optimism feels.
You already knew
ConcordantShe told us optimism has felt low. Her blood agrees — it is not "just her," it is measurable, and most of it responds to what she does next.
Co-founder & clinical direction
Dr. Srini Pillay
Longevity is not the absence of decline. It is the presence of a mind that still wants things. That is what we are measuring, and that is what we are protecting.
- Harvard-trained psychiatrist, cognitive neuroscientist, and brain researcher
- Author, speaker, and researcher on the science of attention and the aging brain
- Reviews the panel, the thresholds, and the language of every report
The science
Your mood has a biology — the same biology that ages your brain.
People who score high in optimism live 11–15% longer on average and are far more likely to reach 85 (Lee et al., PNAS, 2019), and a review of 229,000 adults tied optimism to substantially lower heart-disease and early-death risk (Rozanski et al., JAMA Network Open, 2019). It is not a mood — it is a biology. In a randomized controlled trial, optimism training measurably lowered inflammation — hs-CRP, IL-6, and fibrinogen — over sixteen weeks. Those same markers, with your stress hormones and metabolic health, are what the research ties to how well your brain ages: chronic inflammation and a strained stress axis are among the largest drivers of cognitive decline. mindspan measures the biology behind both — how you feel, and how your brain is doing.
The panel
Thirteen markers. One morning draw.
Every marker earned its place — from an optimism trial, a meta-analysis, or a direct biological mechanism — and every one is a standard, orderable test. Nothing exotic, nothing you can't act on.
Inflammation
hs-CRP · IL-6 · TNF-α · IL-10 · Fibrinogen
Stress & hormonal
Cortisol (AM) · DHEA-S · Testosterone
Growth & metabolic
IGF-1 · VEGF · Tryptophan
Immune
CBC with differential (NLR)
Anchored by fibrinogen — the one marker with direct evidence from an optimism-training trial, and a tight enough signal to track over time.
Founding member pricing
Pay once. Join the mindspan community.
No membership, no recurring charge — just your report, and a standing place in the community we are building around it.
The Optimism Biology Report
- Thirteen markers, one morning draw
- A short optimism questionnaire
- Your Optimism Biology Score, in plain language
- Physician-reviewed by Dr. Srini Pillay
- Yours to keep — retest anytime to see it move
Not in Florida yet?
We are opening one state at a time.
Leave your email and we will tell you the day mindspan reaches you. No drip campaign, no upsell — one message when it matters.
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Questions
What this is, and what it is not.
Is this a test for Alzheimer's?
No. mindspan is a wellness assessment, not a diagnostic test — it cannot tell you whether you will develop any condition. It measures the biology behind your mood and how your brain ages — inflammation, stress hormones, metabolic health — and explains what yours looks like today. If anything falls outside the normal range, we tell you to take it to your doctor.
Is this just a mood quiz?
No. There is a short optimism questionnaire, but the report is built on thirteen blood markers measured at a CLIA-certified laboratory, three of them with direct evidence from a randomized optimism trial. Real biology, reviewed by a physician, not a personality test.
Do I need to fast?
Yes, come in the morning. Several markers — cortisol especially — are only meaningful from a standardized fasting morning draw. Water and prescribed medication are fine.
Do you give me a score?
One — your Optimism Biology Score — as a simple way to see your biology at a glance and, later, to track whether it shifts. It measures your biology, not you, and it always comes with the plain-language explanation behind it. What we will not do is flatten how you feel into a single grade.
What happens to my data?
Your results are yours. We do not sell them, and we do not share them with employers or insurers.
Where is this available?
Florida today, with more states opening deliberately. Join the waitlist and we will tell you when we reach you.