Posted on 03/16/2009 7:34:32 PM PDT by neverdem
Mental powers start to dwindle at 27 after peaking at 22, marking the start of old age, US research suggests.
Professor Timothy Salthouse of Virginia University found reasoning, speed of thought and spatial visualisation all decline in our late 20s.
Therapies designed to stall or reverse the ageing process may need to start much earlier, he said.
His seven-year study of 2,000 healthy people aged 18-60 is published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.
To test mental agility, the study participants had to solve puzzles, recall words and story details and spot patterns in letters and symbols.
The same tests are already used by doctors to spot signs of dementia.
In nine out of 12 tests the average age at which the top performance was achieved was 22.
The first age at which there was any marked decline was at 27 in tests of brain speed, reasoning and visual puzzle-solving ability.
Things like memory stayed intact until the age of 37, on average, while abilities based on accumulated knowledge, such as performance on tests of vocabulary or general information, increased until the age of 60.
Professor Salthouse said his findings suggested "some aspects of age-related cognitive decline begin in healthy, educated adults when they are in their 20s and 30s."
Rebecca Wood of the Alzheimer's Research Trust agreed, saying: "This research suggests that the natural decline of some of our mental abilities as we age starts much earlier than some of us might expect - in our 20s and 30s.
"Understanding more about how healthy brains decline could help us understand what goes wrong in serious diseases like Alzheimer's.
"Alzheimer's is not a natural part of getting old; it is a physical disease that kills brain cells, affecting tens of thousands of under 65s too.
"Much more research is urgently..."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
seem to happen a few years after the beer incline.
That must be a ‘genetic thang’. ‘Food stamp genome’. Generations have suffered. We need to fund scientific research as to why people stay ‘on the plantation’.
My daughter celebrates her 27th on Friday .. I am NOT sending this article to her.
>> Great, I turned 48 today.
Ah, that explains it. Please review yur post. Spel chek is yur friend.
Yeah, sure, it doesn’t appear to you that you misspelled anything, but remember — you’re 48.
>> hey, does anybody know where I put my teeth
You asked that yesterday! Lost ‘em again? :-)
wait what?
lol.
I believe this like I believe Al Gore
Speaqk for yourselves. My brain decline didn't begin until Nov. 5th, 2008 and I'm past 27 . . . . . . by a bit!!
Maybe so, maybe so...
But if recent events say anything then it’s being stupid and taking no account or responsibility for yourself, your future, and NOT doing anything that earns you pay. [/cynic]
Stupid congress.
Good one. You got me. ;>)
Thanks. :)
hey!
**fingers in ears**
lalalalalalalala I cannot HEAR you!!
Bill James had this figured out in the late eighties.
I blame the exwife for those lost braincells.
She took everything else and I can honestly say, as long as she’s gone, I can live without them.
‘Brain decline’ begins at age 27’
Dats a LYE! I B juz as kwik ats fifity sis as I were ats twebbedy seben.
Alzheimer’s has recently been redefined as “diabetes 3”. New memory creation occurs at the moment of glucose uptake into a brain neuron. I have a breakthrough diabetes treatment process that facilitates rapid glucose uptake into cells (as much as 70% of total body serum glucose within one hour). Two of the major researchers in this area believe that my diabetes treatment process will have a beneficial effect on Alzheimer’s symptoms. This is supported by the fact insulin injections have already been shown to improve cognitive abilities.
well just another excuse the liberal side of ‘GENERATION GOMER’ can use,(along with ‘it’s not my fault’) for all their, uh hem, problems.
Well that explains the government
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