An Old Brain
Note: The following was originally a post on age related
decline in brain function on the Brainpower News Blog.
The blog has been removed from the site and the content is now
incorporated into the regular pages of the website.
The research has been pretty consistent over the years, showing
that there are real declines in many areas of cognitive function
as we get older. Being old means you have an old brain--to some
extent. Memory is perhaps the most obvious area of difficulty,
but attention and speed of thought process suffer as well. So
what can we do about this? We have known that exercise, better
diet and lots of mental activity can help, but there is more
good news. Recent research is showing that we already do something
about the changes without conscious intention; we become more
emotionally mature.
Our emotions can help us with decision making and in social
situations. As we age we generally control our emotions better,
and use them in more effective ways. Joseph A. Mikels, in a recent article for Scientific American, says;
"When presented with emotionally charged situations,
older individuals, for instance, use strategies that focus on
the positive and minimize the negative. Such a focus brings benefits
in that older adults experience fewer negative emotions and more
positive emotions in their daily lives. But do these emotional
gains have the power to assuage the cognitive losses?
My own recent research indicates that when older adults
rely more on emotion to make decisions, the quality of their
decisions is superior. In particular, we had older and younger
adults make healthcare decisions (e.g., choosing a new physician
or healthcare plan). We presented people with a choice between
two alternatives, for instance a physician who participates in
continuing education, interacts well with his staff, but has
few years of experience versus another physician who is recommended
by consumer organizations, but sometimes acts arrogantly and
is not sensitive to individual patient needs. While participants
were considering information of this sort, we had some of them
focus on all the details and make their decision with careful
analysis of the facts. For other participants, we had them consider
all of the details but focus on how they felt about each of the
physicians."
It was discovered that younger adults made better decisions
using basic reasoning, while older subjects did better when they
focused on their feelings. Furthermore, that approach allowed
the older participants to do just as well as the young.
It has also been noted that it is more common for older adults
to direct attention to common ground when facing a conflict with
others, rather than focusing on on the negative aspects. This
results in better relationships and easier navigation of social
situations. In general the latest research shows that there is
some compensation for age related decline in cognitive function,
in the form of better use of feelings and emotions. An older
brain is still a functional brain, and even has some advantages.
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