Use it or lose it
As a ‘late developer’, I have an interest in just what it is that enables some folk to continue at a reasonable level of intellectual involvement as they age, while many (most?) other people appear to lose their performance edge as time ticks away.
This is not just about memory. Almost everyone suffers from some degree of short-term memory loss as they grow older, something that leads to jibes about ‘senior moments’ and the like, but some older people appear to hold on to their intellectual functions and to remain fully involved in life until the day they die. My mother was a prime example, even in her 90′s she was an avid reader of newspapers and a stern critic of the government of the time; she could instantly recall the names (and the failings!) of most of Her Majesty’s Ministers and key members of the Opposition and she had firm opinions on current events and foreign policy matters.
From a purely personal angle, understanding more about this subject suddenly became important when I officially became ‘elderly’ – now, several years later, it has become a race against time and has assumed a wider importance given the UK demographic profile.
Reading The Wisdom Paradox by Elkhonon Goldberg helped fill in some of the gaps in my understanding of this key area. This very readable book refers to some interesting research, including the Minnesota Nuns and London Taxi Drivers studies, topics that I have been following for the last couple of years. These studies cast significant doubt on the old notion that the brain is somehow fixed quite early on in life, with limited powers of regeneration and even less hope of measurable improvement in cognitive function. Another recent study shows that bilingual people have added protection against the onset of senile dementia, supporting earlier research findings that intellectual challenge is beneficial at any age and that the brain can ‘rewire’ itself to cope with new stimuli.
Barring genetic susceptibility or head trauma, it looks as if we can do quite a lot to help ‘keep our marbles’ and protect ourselves against the dreaded dementia, including:
- Don’t smoke, smoking narrows the arteries and restricts blood supply to the brain
- Keep active physically, especially in social situations like rambling and dancing
- Stay active mentally, any type of sustained mental activity helps the brain to repair and renew itself
- Avoid trauma, wear a helmet when cycling, skiing or during any exercise where the head may be damaged
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