The Talents of a Middle-Aged Brain

In my own experience, as a brain matures, it does not really slow down in its important functions but rather incurs occasional and seemingly inexplicable lapses - the "foggy moments" associated with entering into middle age. Nothing to do about them, since they are an inevitable part of aging. In my business, I do complex and strategic analysis all day long in innumerable situations involving often difficult problems and not once has any lapse of this type affected anything that really counts (I am in my late 50s).

At the same time, there is a quickness in grasping large volumes of factual material when one is in his 30s or younger that does recede a bit in the 40s and 50s and beyond. That is why learning a foreign language becomes harder as one gets older - but, in that task, even a 12-year old has advantages over one in his 20s. There are just certain phases of life in which the brain is like a sponge and, if one is bright, all manner of detail can not only be pretty quickly absorbed but made to stick.

The lesson here is not to take the quick-absorption phase of life for granted and squander it - that is precisely the time to throw yourself into the deep things of learning (in whatever field) and get the most out of them.

Beyond that, though, there is no need to fret. In almost every way, in my experience, an older person is able to function "at a higher level" (to borrow a sport metaphor) in terms of thinking and decision-making than is a younger one. This may stem from other elements that supplement raw brain-power, such as experience, wisdom, and maturity. Thus, in spite of the occasional lapses and the loss of some of the old quickness, I would not trade my current mental capacities for those I had at a younger age even if I could.

This piece makes excellent points about the importance of exercise and other forms of mental stimulation being not only helpful but also indispensable to staying sharp.

Therefore, as long as you have prepared yourself well when you are young, the rest is a mere continuation of the old pattern, maybe not as vibrant but nothing at all to be dismayed about (at least until dementia sets in!).

As the owner of a middle-aged brain I think this is pretty much in line with my own experiences. I've always been bad about remembering people's names, and I don't think this has really gotten any worse over the years. My memory of trivial or unimportant things has eroded a bit perhaps; I rationalize this as my brain doing garbage collection.

On the other hand I do think that I'm better at what I do than at any time in the past; I know more, I'm better at applying what I know; I know what approaches are likely to work and which ones have more risk. I certainly have not found that I "can't learn new things" though I am prone to being a bit more skeptical of fads and more appreciative of the time-tested and proven.

"One of the most intriguing findings is that if you talk to people who disagree with you, that helps your brain wake up and refine your arguments and shake up the cognitive egg."

That strikes me as truth. And a very inconvenient one at that.

Speaking from experience, yes I am stupider in terms of raw neuron-crunching. However, with the benefit of experience, I tend to do fewer stupid things. Still do more stupid things than I wish to.

The book's author was interviewed for an hour on Wisconsin Public Radio, this past Tuesday. (I haven't listened to it, yet.)

http://wpr.org/kathleendunn/index.cfm?strDirection=Prev&...

The following day, the same show interviewed another researcher on the differences between male and female brains particularly in children (it's less than has been thought, per the researcher; IIRC enculturation makes up part of the difference). I heard part of this one, which clued me in to the previous day's interview.

http://wpr.org/kathleendunn/index.cfm?strDirection=Prev&...

The (RealAudio -- sorry) streams are freely available. WPR members also have the option of an MP3 download.