"You don't get to be old bein' no fool. There's plenty of young wise men that's deader than a mutha---ker."
Posted on 05/22/2008 1:50:55 PM PDT by neverdem
When older people can no longer remember names at a cocktail party, they tend to think that their brainpower is declining. But a growing number of studies suggest that this assumption is often wrong.
Instead, the research finds, the aging brain is simply taking in more data and trying to sift through a clutter of information, often to its long-term benefit.
The studies are analyzed in a new edition of a neurology book, “Progress in Brain Research.”
Some brains do deteriorate with age. Alzheimer’s disease, for example, strikes 13 percent of Americans 65 and older. But for most aging adults, the authors say, much of what occurs is a gradually widening focus of attention that makes it more difficult to latch onto just one fact, like a name or a telephone number. Although that can be frustrating, it is often useful.
“It may be that distractibility is not, in fact, a bad thing,” said Shelley H. Carson, a psychology researcher at Harvard whose work was cited in the book. “It may increase the amount of information available to the conscious mind.”
For example, in studies where subjects are asked to read passages that are interrupted with unexpected words or phrases, adults 60 and older work much more slowly than college students. Although the students plow through the texts at a consistent speed regardless of what the out-of-place words mean, older people slow down even more when the words are related to the topic at hand. That indicates that they are not just stumbling over the extra information, but are taking it in and processing it.
When both groups were later asked questions for which the out-of-place words might be answers, the older adults responded much better than the students.
“For the young people, it’s as if the distraction never happened,”...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
AH HA!!! My theory has been validated. While observing my own brain’s function as I age, it occured to me that I wasn’t forgetting anything, but simply having drouble locating the data. It takes me longer to find it, but find it I eventually do. Usually about 2 minutes after I’ve looked like an idiot because I couldn’t think of my own telephone number.
We’re just like computers that try to run Photoshop, Poser and other big programs all at the same time...we need to upgrade our RAM. ;-)
drouble=trouble
They say we never use but a fraction of our brains. We shouldn’t have to add more RAM. There are some brain exercises that claim to increase your capacity to store information. I’m much too busy for upgrading.
This can’t be.
Young libs are smarter and wiser than anyone who ever lived; they’re even smarter than the whole of collective wisdom of anyone that ever lived before them.
Try system defrag, that might help. ;-P
does this have anything to do with McCain?
HaHa! I also have explained the problems of older folk’s memories is a case of information overload. That perhaps our brains have run out of available memory, like a computer.
From “Cheers”—Cliff Clavin to Norm:
“Well, ya see, Norm, it’s like this… A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it’s the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first.
This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.
In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first.
In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That’s why you always feel smarter after a few beers.”
Or just reboot once in a while!
I have had the same belief since about age 50...14 years ago.
I know for sure my Father gets smarter the older I get.
Been there, done that.
My usual brain burp occurs during a voice mail; I realize, half way through the number I'm leaving, that it is the number I dialed, not the number I can be reached at. Did that just today.
I have never misplaced my keys or purse but my underwear now thats another story!
I'm 60 years old and I agree with you entirely.
I've resolved the issue though, after consulting tech support, I now Defrag my brain once a month...minimum.
"You don't get to be old bein' no fool. There's plenty of young wise men that's deader than a mutha---ker."
So...the information’s still there - it’s just that the search is timing out. Great.
I’m only 31. I shudder to think of how hard it’s going to be to locate data by the time I’m twice that...
Here’s a fact regarding the brain that one of my cousins’ warned me of and in fact, later found to be true. When your child reaches their mid teen years, your intelligence begins to decrease dramatically until they reach their mid twenties, then you not only recover your lost intelligence, but actually become a lot smarter.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it...
Very nice. This could also explain, although you won’t see it in the New York Times, why people under the effects of marijuana (well, of course, so I’ve been told) have similiar problems with present-time data but, when reminded, recall everything and can place the information into a mental and factual grid.
Thanks for the thread.
I have plenty of information stored. The problem is accessing it quickly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO8x8eoU3L4
The brain gets fragmented....just like a hard drive...
You,too! Well..I never call my own number..That’s my excuse.. and I’m sticking with it!
But shock treatments? No thanks.
Your idea of rebooting sounds better to me.
Er...thanks. ‘Cause I really, really needed more pressure...
On the positive side, plenty of authors didn’t really break out until after retirement from a regular job. So there’s still hope in some arenas.
Of course if you are older you have a lot more of your life to remember. It makes sense.
My 6 year old does not have a whole lot of memories to sift through.
As we baby boomers age, I foresee a flood of such articles, all illustrating that yes, it is the best of all possible worlds—for boomers.
A dime has 118 ridges around the edge. 
A cat has 32 muscles in each ear. 
A crocodile cannot stick out its tongue. 
A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours. 
A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds. 
A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second. 
A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes. 
A snail can sleep for three years. 
Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer. 
All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill. 
Almonds are a member of the peach family. 
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain. 
Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age. 
Butterflies taste with their feet. 
Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds. Dogs only have about 10. 
"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt". 
February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon. 
In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated. 
If the population of China walked past you, in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction. 
If you are an average American, in your whole life, you will spend an average of 6 months waiting at red lights. 
It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open. 
Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors. 
Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable. 
No word in the English language rhymes with month, 
orange, 
silver,
or purple. 
On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament building is an American flag. 
Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing. 
Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite. 
Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated. 
"Stewardesses" 
is the longest word typed with only the left hand and "lollipop" with your right. 
The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing. 
The cruise liner, QE2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns. 
The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket. 
The sentence: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter of the alphabet. 
The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid. 
The words 'racecar,'
'kayak'
and 'level' are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes).
There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar. 
There are more chickens than people in the world. 
There are only four words in the English language which end in "dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous 
There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: "abstemious" and "facetious."
There's no Betty Rubble in the Flintstones Chewables Vitamins. 
Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur. 
TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard. 
Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance. 
Women blink nearly twice as much as men. 
Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks; otherwise it will digest itself.
....................Now you know everything!
Have a great day!
/\/\
(>';'<)
((")("))
Richard Pryor was one of the greatest comedians of all time, IMHO.
The studies are analyzed in a new edition of a neurology book, "Progress in Brain Research."I dashed down to buy this, but I couldn't remember the title. Thanks neverdem.
I'd like to add a couple of books to any reading list on this subject:
Ignite and Brain-Friendly Strategies for the Inclusion Classroom...both my Dr. Judy Willis. In them she talks about "pruning" away what isn't used.
This stuff is amazing!
You must drink a lot of Snapple.
Are you still working with refugees?
Ohhh...no sugar for me!
Thanks for the ping to this thread the day after I learned I’m going to be a grandmother.
It’s all in the timing. ;’) I for one turned 50 yesterday.
I usually just fake a heart attack when this happens :-)
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