According to the newest theories on aging and memory, you can continue to build your brain power no matter what your age!
As we get older, some of our neural circuits start to fail. I’m sure you’ve experienced those frustrating little brain blips, when you’re trying to remember the name of someone you just met, or you go downstairs to get something, and immediately forget why you went there in the first place.
My run in with a traumatic brain injury two years ago now, made me VERY AWARE of brain changes and aging!
It turns out that those with older, but healthy brains can find clever ways to overcome those annoying blips, by switching on new circuits when old ones fail. Though younger adults may be better at attacking mental problems more efficiently, older adults can use other parts of their brain to solve problems just as well.
For many years, proponents of the “plasticity” model of brain aging have disagreed with the “neural fallout” advocates. The fallout proponents point to the inevitable loss of neurons and synapses that occurs over time. Their view is challenged by the plasticity researchers who point to research showing that the remaining neurons in the brain never stop developing new connections, thereby maintaining the overall balance of your brain resources.
We also know that aging spares the vital function known as “procedural memory,” which is your ability to remember how to perform many of the actions that make up your daily life. Normal aging will spare your ability to remember how to make your morning coffee, hammer a nail, or sew on a button.
Even with cognitively intense activities like bridge playing, chess, reading, and typing, experience often wins out over youth. Master bridge players in their 60s, 70s, and beyond can take a quick peek at their cards and in an instant come up with a strategy for playing the hand without even having to memorize each individual card. Areas of the brain involved in complex language and word processing skills continue to develop and reach maturity well into the middle years of life.
From time to time there is debate about youth vs. experience in areas demanding quick reactions. Air traffic controllers are one group of workers whose ability to watch for trouble and react quickly might be thought of as very vulnerable to the effects of aging. Surprisingly, researchers found that on a simulated air-traffic control experiment, older controllers who did take longer to respond in lab experiments, still performed well on the complex tasks required in the situations they encountered on the job.
But what if you feel that your alternate neural circuitry isn’t working for you? Fortunately there are ways to build your brain and give yourself that added boost. One way is through aerobic exercise. The areas of the brain involved in attention and working memory do benefit from a workout that makes you sweat.
Watching what you eat can also help build your brain. Foods high in omega-3, such as salmon, are truly “brain food.” Even better, flavonoids, found in certain foods ranging from fruits and vegetables to red wine and dark chocolate, can also have a beneficial influence on cognition. In a longitudinal study conducted in France over a 10-year period, high levels of flavonoid intake were associated with significantly lower memory declines.
High levels of mental activity may even prevent Alzheimer’s disease. In a unique longitudinal study of the aging brains of Sisters of Notre Dame nuns after they died, it was found that high levels of mental activity in early adulthood seemed to protect them from the ravages of the disease.
But it’s not only your mental muscle that you need to exercise. Physical exercise also seems to serve to protect against the type of cognitive changes that may precede the development of Alzheimer’s disease, particularly if it is performed at least at a moderate level of intensity.
Finally, it’s your mental attitude that you need to check out if you’re going to keep your brain in tune. The key is to realize that some of your abilities will change as you age, but others may improve, especially if you keep active. Remember, use it or lose it!
Recognize that you are undergoing cognitive changes. Then try to maximize your performance to preserve your abilities and maintain them to their fullest potential.
