Page 163 - Mind Games The Aging Brain and How to Keep it Healthy

Support the Aging Brain • 147

while we write a check. A failure in the ability to switch at-
tention is evidenced when we go into the bedroom to look
for a book and then cannot remember why we went in there.
This problem is fairly common throughout life, and occur-
rences may increase as we age.
Much of the cognitive loss that is commonly considered
a part of the aging process is actually attributable to extrin-
sic factors such as lack of practice, poor motivation, diet,
health complications, and fatigue, and poor conditions of
the testing, etc. The older we get, the more robust our store
of information and knowledge becomes. We need to be
more efficient at managing our mental resources. Actually,
some researchers consider young people to be suffering
from a handicap of inexperience and lack of wisdom for
which they compensate with a speedy mind. 10
Although it is commonly believed that age brings a loss
of brain cells, new evidence points to neurogenesis—the
birth of new neurons.

neurogenesis—the growth of new brain cells
Although it is true that the idle mind slows more rapidly
than the lively mind, keeping it active is not enough. If you
work a crossword puzzle every day, for example, you are
exercising those particular areas of the brain each day. Those
connections are strengthened and maintained. However,
you want to stimulate other areas of the brain as well. Do
you remember Figure 4-1, which compares the brain activity
while learning a new task with brain activity after the task is
more commonplace? If not, go peek again for another re-
hearsal. When stimulation is new and novel, other areas are
incorporated into the thinking process. Your mind must be
exposed to new experiences and stimuli to keep it agile.
New stimuli cause new connections to be made, and blood
flow to those areas increases within days. Nevertheless, as
soon as the new activity becomes more or less routine, ac-
tivity decreases.
You may have heard about the concept of lifelong learn-
ing. You definitely need to continue learning throughout life