Aging Brain Superior in Some Aspects

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Aging Brain Superior in Some Aspects

_http://www.jonbarron.org/blog_published/2008/05/aging_brain_superior_in_some_

a.html_

(http://www.jonbarron.org/blog_published/2008/05/aging_brain_superior_in_some_a.\

html)

 

 

If you're in the over-40 camp, you might have noticed some annoying changes

in your mental functioning as the years have progressed. Perhaps you've

re-rented the same video several times because the title didn't sound familiar.

Or maybe you've forgotten your car keys twice in one week, or forgotten the

name of your neighbor's dog. Given the statistics indicating that a fair

share of older adults suffer from mental decline, you might fear that it's time

to put yourself out to pasture. If so, here's some heartening news.

 

According to _an article_

(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/health/research/20brai.html?em & ex=1211428800 & \

en=c4ac9065a0b095ec & ei=5087

)

_http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/health/research/20brai.html?_r=1 & em & ex=121142\

8800 & en=c4ac9065a0b095ec & ei=5087%0A & oref=slogin_

(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/health/research/20brai.html?_r=1 & em & ex=121142\

8800 & en=c4ac9065a0b09

5ec & ei=5087

& oref=slogin) in the New York Times, a new book entitled Progress in

Brain Research indicates that the brain actually becomes more powerful in

certain ways as we age, although our mental capacity shifts to emphasize new

abilities. The book cites numerous studies that show that while aging brains

might

not retain facts as well as young minds, the mature brain takes in more data

and can put that data to more creative use.

" Much of what occurs is a gradually widening focus of attention that makes

it more difficult to latch onto just one fact, like a name or a telephone

number, " the article says. But it goes on to assert that the broad focus of

attention offers compensatory abilities, such as the ability to make wise

choices

based on a wider scope of information.

Among the studies cited are several in which subjects reviewed text

containing unfamiliar words. Apparently, the younger subjects zipped through

without

bothering to try to figure out the meaning. Older readers, on the other hand,

slowed down to decipher the significance. The older adults subsequently

performed much better than the younger ones on tests in which the unfamiliar

words might be the answers.

Lynn Hasher, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, says,

" ...for older adults, because they've retained all this extra data, they're

now suddenly the better problem solvers. They can transfer the information

they've soaked up from one situation to another. "

Of course, not everyone share's Dr. Hasher's interpretation of the data. Or

to put it into more colloquial terms, " One person's meat is another person's

poison. "

A _2005 study out of the University of California_

(http://seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Aging/5-09-12MemoryDistractions.htm) in Berkeley

concluded that memory

loss among the elderly results not from an inability to concentrate on

relevant information, but more from an inability to filter out information as it

assaults the senses. The study used magnetic resonance imaging to discover that

older adults couldn't block out distractions as well as younger people, and

so they encountered interference in focusing on every day tasks like reading,

driving, and interacting with others. Dr. Adam Gazzaley, who co-authored the

study, summed up the findings by saying, " These data suggest that older

individuals are able to focus on pertinent information, but are overwhelmed by

interference from failing to ignore distracting information, resulting in

memory impairment. "

Note that Gazzaley and his fellow scientists used the study results to

emphasize the negative consequences resulting from the older brain's

predilection

to taking in a broad swath of data, whereas Progress in Brain Research takes

the same information and gives it a very different spin. In fact the new book

concludes that aging brains demonstrate more capacity for wisdom and

creativity than younger brains.

Research supports the claim that distractibility, such as that demonstrated

by the elderly, goes hand-in-hand with creativity. A _2003 study at Harvard

University_ (http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2003/10.23/01-creativity.html)

found that the students who were the most creative also had the most trouble

ignoring superfluous data. According to the Times article, " The more

creative the students were thought to be, determined by a questionnaire on past

achievements, the more trouble they had ignoring the unwanted data. A reduced

ability to filter and set priorities, the scientists concluded, could

contribute

to original thinking. " The researchers in that case assumed that the link

between creativity and vulnerability to distraction resulted from reduced

activity in the prefrontal cortex, and apparently, they believe this condition

applies to aging brains.

What's clear is that while short-term memory may diminish with age, it's not

all bad news for the codgers among us, and for the first time, someone has

decided to see the cognitive-functioning glass as half full. It's a good

lesson in how perspective makes all the difference. Older adults may in fact

manifest more creative problem-solving ability than younger people, and the

attribution of wisdom to the elderly may have a basis in fact. And the even

better

news is that older people can _improve memory function_

(http://www.jonbarron.org/newsletters/06/12-04-2006.php) by following the

_Baseline of Health

Program_ (http://www.jonbarron.org/programs/baseline_program.php) , without

diminishing their creativity and wisdom -- although no supplement yet exists to

help the young and frivolous become wise.

:hc