Page 170 - Mind Games The Aging Brain and How to Keep it Healthy

154 • Chapter 6

Well, perhaps Congress is not a very practical method to
counteract the aging process. We need personal techniques
that we can implement ourselves to control and combat the
aging process. In Chapter 5, you read about the challenges
to the aging brain. This chapter expands on proven methods
and strategies you easily can integrate into your lifestyle to
slow or reverse the effects of aging on your physical abili-
ties, health, and mental agility.

RESEARCH RESULTS

Longitudinal studies—observe the same group of
subjects over a long period of time, such as decades
Cross-sectional studies—observe subjects of all ranges
of ages, lifestyles, etc. at one particular time

Many longitudinal studies indicate that aging is not syn-
onymous with the decline of mental abilities. Some tests indi-
cate that older adults in their 70s take more time and are not as
accurate as participants in their 20s or 30s. However, you must
remember that these are generalities and hide the fact that the
physical and mental abilities of individuals differ tremen-
dously from person to person. Informally, you know this your-
self—you have friends who are physically active, other friends
who are very agile mentally, and some friends who are both.
You can learn a great deal from both types of studies.
Generalizations from the results of these studies often have
been published indicating that the older we get, the slower
and more forgetful we get. Nevertheless, within the studies
are individual differences:

• All people do not age physically and mentally at the
same rate.

• Not all people get more forgetful with age.
• For individuals who are over the age of 50, some men-
tal abilities remain constant, some decrease, and some
increase.