Aging can increase your intellectual capacity. Key mental skills, including concentration and attention, really improve as you age, according to the study
- It is generally believed that advancing in age leads to a decrease in our brain
- But a new study suggests that key mental abilities really improve with age
- Concentration and attention can improve “because we practice them throughout life”
- Experts hope it will be possible to train these skills and prevent Alzheimer’s
It has long been believed that moving forward in years leads to a gradual decline in our brain.
But a new study now suggests that key mental abilities, including concentration and attention, may improve with age.
These key brain functions underpin critical cognitive aspects such as memory, self-control, and decision-making, and even navigation, math, language, and reading.
Brain power: a new study suggests that key mental abilities, including concentration and attention, may improve with age (stock image)
“These results are incredible and have important implications for the way we should view aging,” said Michael T. Ullman, a professor at Georgetown University and co-author of the study.
“People have widely assumed that attention and executive functions decrease with age, despite intriguing suggestions from some smaller-scale studies that raised questions about these assumptions.
“But the results of our extensive study indicate that the critical elements of these abilities really improve during aging, probably because we simply practice these skills throughout our lives.”
Ullman said that with more research, it may even be possible to improve these skills such as protection against brain decay and disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease as people age.
The research team examined three aspects of attention and cognitive control in a group of 702 participants aged 58 to 98 years. They focused on these ages because that’s when cognition often changes more during aging.
The aspects they studied are the brain networks involved in alertness, guidance, and executive inhibition. Each has different characteristics and depends on different brain areas and different neurochemicals and genes.
These key brain functions underlie critical cognitive aspects such as memory, self-control, and decision-making, and even navigation, math, language, and reading (stock image)
The alert is characterized by an improved state of surveillance and preparedness to respond to incoming information.
Orientation involves shifting brain resources to a specific location in space, while the executive network inhibits distracting or conflicting information, allowing us to focus on the important.
“We use all three processes constantly,” said João Veríssimo, lead author and assistant professor at the University of Lisbon. “For example, when you’re driving a car, alert is your greatest preparation when approaching an intersection.”
“Orientation occurs when you shift your attention to an unexpected movement, such as a pedestrian. And the executive function allows you to inhibit distractions like birds or billboards so you can be focused on driving.”
The study found that only alert abilities decreased with age, while orientation and executive inhibition actually improved.
Researchers believe that these attention and concentration skills can improve with lifelong practice, and the gains are large enough to compensate for the underlying neuronal declines.
Instead, they believe that alertness decreases because this basic state of vigilance and preparedness cannot improve with practice.
“Because of the relatively large number of participants and because we ruled out numerous alternative explanations, the conclusions should be reliable and therefore can be widely applied,” Veríssimo said.
He added that “because targeting and inhibition skills are the basis of numerous behaviors, the results have broad implications.”
Ullman said, “The results not only change our view of how aging affects the mind, but it can also lead to clinical improvements, including patients with aging disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.”
The research has been published in the journal Nature Human Behavior.
WHAT IS DEMENTIA? THE KILLING DISEASE THAT STOVES THE PATITS OF THEIR MEMORIES
Dementia is a general term used to describe a number of neurological disorders
A GLOBAL CONCERN
Dementia is a general term used to describe a series of progressive (affecting the brain) neurological disorders that affect memory, thinking, and behavior.
There are many different types of dementia, of which Alzheimer’s disease is the most common.
Some people may have a combination of dementia types.
Regardless of what type is diagnosed, each person will experience their dementia in their own unique way.
Dementia is a global concern, but it is often seen in richer countries, where people are likely to live to old age.
HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE AFFECTED?
The Alzheimer’s Society reports that today there are more than 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK, of whom more than 500,000 have Alzheimer’s.
It is estimated that the number of people living with dementia in the UK by 2025 will increase to over one million.
In the United States, an estimated 5.5 million people suffer from Alzheimer’s. A similar percentage increase is expected in the coming years.
As a person’s age increases, so does the risk of developing dementia.
Diagnosis rates are improving, but it is believed that many people with dementia are not yet diagnosed.
IS THERE CARE?
There is currently no cure for dementia.
But new drugs can slow their progression and the sooner they are detected, the more effective the treatments will be.
Source: Alzheimer’s Society