Having discovered some broccoli in the microwave this morning, several days after I must have put it in there to cook, I am forced to wonder — once again — whether senility can be far away? Granted I’ve been busy launching my new “I’ll build you a website or blog then hold your hand until you’re comfortable about updating it” project, making multiple aging body doctor visits, and enduring the five hour waits for the technician visits needed to change over from Comcast to Verizon, but most people’s lives are just as busy, so can’t claim any of that as an excuse.
It was somewhat reassuring to read this article in the New York Times. In it the author suggests that by midlife our brains have got into the habit of using the same few synaptic paths for retrieving information. The rest of our knowledge isn’t lost to us, its just at the far end of memory trails, so we have to work harder to think of related events to help recall it. The solution is that as we age we need to do and learn new things to help create new pathways within our brains. Not only do we get to enjoy the new experiences, but the extra neural links help us recall less well-connected information more easily.
I was further encouraged to hear about the findings in Barbara Strauch’s new book, The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind
In it she acknowledges that although we might have memory lapses, by midlife we have become much more adept at processing complex information. For example, younger brains use only the right frontal lobes to learn pairs of words, but more mature brains automatically utilize both the left and right frontal lobes. Although we have more experience to draw on, our brains work more effectively. Not only are our brains better organized, but we are more likely to be optimistic, both characteristics that fly in the face of conventional wisdom that we become dotty and depressed as we age.
So, I suppose I should be grateful that my brain helped me process all the logistics for my site project, and made sure I was in the right place at the right time — with the right paperwork — for doctor and technician appointments. Despite all this reassurance, the mystery remains — what vegetables did I eat the night I planned to eat the broccoli, and how did I cook them?
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Hi Gillian,
Do like I do. I always unplug the microwave when not in use. If I see the litlle clock numbers on, I know there is something in it and check what it is.
I always tell people the information is in my brain somewhere. How to find and retrieve it is the tricky part.
anir
This a good idea, thank you – and another new pathway for my brain!
What a great blog entry! I agree that the New York Times article is interesting and insightful – it is encouraging to hear that these old synapses still exist and that we just need to work harder to reconnect them. I have also read studies showing that you can form new neuronal synapses as you age by learning new things. My goal is to learn a new language (maybe Italian?) to work my brain. I approach it as a new challenge to tackle!
What a wonderful language to learn – I hope a trip to Italy to use your new skill is also in the plans!
I was at my monthly book club meeting last night and we talked about this very thing. The book we discussed was Still Alice by Lisa Genova, a book about early onset Alzheimers. We “joked” about how we are losing it and becoming forgetful. But by the end of the discussion, we decided it is information overload that we are suffering. When you’re a mom, keeping track of all of your children’s stuff and their schedules and add in your husband’s schedule and your own schedule, is it any wonder we seem scattered. It is refreshing to learn that the old synapses still exist and we can work hard to reconnect them. We can do this and just be tolerant of each other when little, scattered blunders happen. Thank you for your thought provoking post.
Thank you for reassuring me I’m normal – whatever that is!