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We
tend to think of aging in purely negative terms, and even
experts often define "successful" aging as the
effective management of decay and decline. Rubbish. No one
can deny that aging brings challenges and losses. But recent
discoveries in neuroscience show that the aging brain is
more flexible and adaptable than we previously thought.
Studies suggest that the brain's left and right hemispheres
become better integrated during middle age, making way for
greater creativity. Age also seems to dampen some negative
emotions. And a great deal of scientific work has confirmed
the "use it or lose it" adage, showing that the
aging brain grows stronger from use and challenge. In short,
midlife is a time of new possibility. Growing old can be
filled with positive experiences. The challenge is to
recognize our potential—and nurture it.
Until
recently, scientists paid little attention to psychological
development in the second half of life, and those who did pay
attention often drew the wrong conclusions. "About the age
of 50," Sigmund Freud wrote in 1907, "the elasticity
of the mental processes on which treatment depends is, as a
rule, lacking. Old people are no longer educable."
Freud—who wrote those words at 51 and produced some of his
best work after 65—wasn't the only pioneer to misconstrue the
aging process. Jean Piaget, the great developmental
psychologist, assumed that cognitive development stopped during
young adulthood, with the acquisition of abstract thought. Even
Erik Erikson, who delineated eight stages of psychosocial
development, devoted only two pages of his classic work
"Identity and the Life Cycle" to later life.
Through
studies involving more than 3,000 older adults, Dr Cohen (Center
on Aging, Health & Humanities at George Washington
University Medical Center) has identified four distinct
developmental phases that unfold in overlapping 20-year periods
beginning in a person's early 40s: a midlife re-evaluation
(typically encountered between 40 and 65) during which we set
new goals and priorities; a liberation phase (55 to 75) that
involves shedding past inhibitions to express ourselves more
freely; a summing-up phase (65 to 85) when we begin to review
our lives and concentrate on giving back, and an encore phase
(75 and beyond) that involves finding affirmation and fellowship
in the face of adversity and loss. Dr Cohen refers to
"phases" instead of "stages" because people
vary widely during later life. However, we don't all march
through these phases in lock step -each person is driven by a
unique set of inner drives and ideals.
What sparks
this series of changes? Why, after finding our places in the
world, do so many of us spend our 40s and 50s re-evaluating our
lives? The impulse stems partly from a growing awareness of our
own mortality. As decades vanish behind us, and we realize how
relatively few we have left, we gain new perspective on who we
are and what we really care about. This awakening isn't always
easy—it often reveals conflicts between the lives we've built
and the ones we want to pursue—but only 10 percent of the
people studied describe the midlife transition as a crisis.
Far more say they're filled with a new sense of quest and
personal discovery. "I'm looking forward to pursuing the
career I always wanted," one 49-year-old woman said.
"I'm tired of just working on other people's visions,
rather than my own, even if I have to start on a smaller
scale."
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Difference
between older brains and younger brains
While changing our perspective, age also remodels
our brains, leaving us better equipped to fulfill our own
dreams. The most important difference between older brains
and younger brains is also the easiest to overlook: older
brains have learned more than young ones. Throughout life,
our brains encode thoughts and memories by forming new
connections among neurons. The neurons themselves may lose
some processing speed with age, but they become ever more
richly intertwined. Magnified tremendously, the brain of a
mentally active 50-year-old looks like a dense forest of
interlocking branches, and this density reflects both
deeper knowledge and better judgment. That's why
age is such an advantage in many fields, such as; law,
medicine, coaching, management and leadership etc. There is no
substitute for acquired learning.
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Knowledge and
wisdom aren't the only fruits of age. New research suggests that
as our brains become more densely wired, they also become less
rigidly bifurcated. As I mentioned earlier, our brains actually
consist of two separate structures—a right brain and a left
brain—linked by a row of fibers called the corpus callosum. In
most people, the left hemisphere specializes in speech, language
and logical reasoning, while the right hemisphere handles more
intuitive tasks, such as face recognition and the reading of
emotional cues. But as scientists have recently discovered through
studies with PET scans and magnetic resonance imaging, this
pattern changes as we age. Unlike young adults, who handle most
tasks on one side of the brain or the other, older ones tend to
use both hemispheres. Duke University neuroscientist Robert Cabeza
has dubbed this phenomenon Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in
Older Adults—HAROLD for short—and his research suggests it is
no accident.
In a 2002
study, Cabeza assigned a set of memory tasks to three groups of
people: one composed of young adults, one of low-performing older
adults and one of high-performing older adults. Like the young
people, the low-performing elders drew mainly on one side of the
prefrontal cortex to perform the assigned tasks. It was the
high-scoring elders who used both hemispheres. No one knows
exactly what this all means, but the finding suggests that healthy
brains compensate for the depredations of age by expanding their
neural networks across the bilateral divide. My own work suggests
that, besides keeping us sharp, this neural integration makes it
easier to reconcile our thoughts with our feelings. When you hear
someone saying, "My head tells me to do this, but my heart
says do that," the person is more likely a 20-year-old than a
50-year-old. One of Dr Cohen's patients, a 51-year-old
man, remembers how he agonized over decisions during his 20s,
searching in vain for the most logical choice. As he moved through
his 40s and into his 50s, he found himself trusting his gut.
"My decisions are more subjective," he said during one
session, "but I'm more comfortable with many of the choices
that follow."
As our aging
brains grow wiser and more flexible, they also tend toward greater
equanimity. Our emotions are all rooted in a set of neural
structures known collectively as the limbic system. Some of our
strongest negative emotions originate in the amygdalae, a pair of
almond-shaped limbic structures that sit near the center of the
brain, screening sensory data for signs of trouble. At the first
hint of a threat, the amygdalae fire off impulses that can change
our behavior before our conscious, thinking brains have a chance
to weigh in. That's why our hearts pound when strangers approach
us on dark sidewalks—and why we often overreact to slights and
annoyances. But the amygdalae seem to mellow with age. In
brain-imaging studies, older adults show less evidence of fear,
anger and hatred than young adults. Psychological studies confirm
that impression, showing that older adults are less impulsive and
less likely to dwell on their negative feelings.
| Case
Example:.'John' in his late 50s, was contemplating retirement,
when he realized that he had finally matured into his job. Despite
a sharp intellect and a passion for excellence, this man had spent
much of his career alienating people with brusque, critical
comments and a lack of sensitivity. Now, he was finally
beginning to master interpersonal communication. As his emotional
development caught up to his intellectual development, he morphed
from a brilliant but brittle loner into a mentor and a mediator of
conflicts. "I feel like a changed man," he said with a
bemused smile. His best work was still ahead of him. |
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Clearly, the
aging brain is more resilient, adaptable and capable than we
thought. But that doesn't mean we can sit back and expect good
things to happen. Research has identified several types of
activity that can, if practiced regularly, help boost the power,
clarity and subtlety of the aging brain.
Brain
workouts or mental exercises.
Exercise mentally. The brain is like a muscle. Use it and
it grows stronger -and don't be surprised, once you start, you
want to do more.
Achieve
mastery. Research on aging has uncovered a key
variable in mental health called "sense of control."
From middle age onward, people who enjoy a sense of control and
mastery stay healthier than those who don't. The possibilities for
mastery are unlimited, ranging from mastering a professional skill
to playing a musical instrument. Besides improving your outlook,
the sense of accomplishment may also strengthen the immune system.
The brain is
like the foundation of a building—it provides the physical
substrate of our minds, our personalities and our sense of self.
As we've seen, our brain hardware is capable of adapting, growing
and becoming more complex and integrated with age. As our brains
mature and evolve, so do our knowledge, our emotions and our
expressive abilities. In turn, what we do with those abilities
affects the brain itself, forging the new connections and
constellations needed for further psychological growth. This
realization should embolden anyone entering the later phases of
life. If we can move beyond our stubborn myths about the aging
brain, great things are possible. Successful aging is not about
managing decline. It's about harnessing the enormous potential
that each of us has for growth, love and happiness.
Learn
More
- Edited
Article by G. Cohen, M.D., PH.D. Newsweek, Jan.
16, 2006 Issue. ( Cohen is
founding director of the Center on Aging, Health &
Humanities at George Washington University Medical Center.)
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New research suggests that a brain
workout on a regular basis can greatly reduce the risk of
developing dementia, including Alzheimer's disease
-CBS Report, 2006
The CBS Early Show medical
correspondent Dr. Emily Senay says that there is more
evidence building up that mentally–stimulating exercises
can reduce the risk of dementia and help maintain cognitive
abilities as people age.
In the New England Journal of Medicine study, researchers looked
at leisure activities of seniors over a 20-year period to see
whether they developed dementia. The researchers found that
people who engage in mental activities were more frequently
less likely to develop dementia.
Benefits of a regular brain workout:
The study further found one activity once a week reduced the
risk of dementia by 7 percent. Risk reduction went up to 63
percent for those who participated in more activities more
frequently. It is suggested structured mental exercises may
actually keep brain cells healthy and less prone to disease or
damage. Another theory, says Dr Senay, is that
mentally-stimulating activities may help build up a cognitive
reserve, so there is more brain cells to replace any
that is lost. And although physical activities didn't seem
to have much of an effect in this study, there is evidence that
it benefits the brain in other ways
Keeping ageing brains on top form
-BBC News, 2006
Studies of the ageing brain have shown mental decline is
not inevitable and there are plenty of activities people can
do to keep it together "up top".
Mental stimulation is one important way to keep the mind
young, researchers emphasised at a conference in Dublin.
"Neuroscience researchers have made important
discoveries that will help keep our brains functioning
optimally," says Professor Ian Robertson.
Brain growth
Continued learning and mental stimulation is a key
to retaining ability, according to the scientist, because
they "literally grow your brain." Studies in humans
have shown that brains which are more active develop a
richer and more densely connected network of brain cells.
According to Professor Robertson, this brain strengthening
may be one factor causing dementia to be less prevalent
among people who have spent more time performing mental
exercises.
Brain Workouts
Advocating a "use it or lose it"
approach, the scientist stressed that the decline in mental
sharpness usually seen in people over the age of 65 is not
inevitable, and can be stopped or even reversed by
structured mental exercise. In a recent study of nearly 3000
people aged 65 to 94, those given 10 hours of brain training
in memory, problem-solving, and decision-making tasks over
the course of several weeks showed marked and lasting
increases in cognitive ability.
"Booster" training sessions received a year
later resulted in further improvements in mental function
which persisted for over a year. The gained mental ability
was equivalent to that which is typically lost by older
people over a 7-14 year period. "The training
on average took about a decade off the cognitive age of
these volunteers," Professor Robertson
explained.
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Copyright
© 1998 - 2006.
Dr Skiffington
Behavioral Coaching Institute
New York, London & Sydney
All rights reserved.
Contact: info@mind-workouts.commind-workouts.com
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