![]() Scientists are currently piecing together sections of the giant puzzle of brain research to determine how the brain subtly alters over time to cause these changes. Remembering appointments: Without cues to recall the information, the brain may put appointments into “storage” and not access them unless something jogs the person’s memory.Īlthough some studies show that one-third of older adults struggle with declarative memory - that is, memories of facts or events that the brain has stored and can retrieve - other studies indicate that one-fifth of 70-year-olds perform cognitive tests just as well as people aged 20.Recalling names and numbers: Strategic memory, which helps with remembering names and numbers, begins to decline at age 20.Multitasking: Slowed processing can make planning parallel tasks more difficult.Difficulty learning something new: Committing new information to memory can take longer.However, Alzheimer’s and other dementias are not a part of the normal aging process.Ĭommon memory changes that are associated with normal aging include: Older adults often become anxious about memory slips due to the link between impaired memory and Alzheimer’s disease. That said, people often experience those same slight memory lapses in their 20s but do not give it a second thought. “Slips of the mind” are associated with getting older. These are among the last areas of the brain to mature, and they may not develop fully until around 35 years of age.Īs people age, their bodily systems - including the brain - gradually decline. The frontal lobes are the area of the brain responsible for executive functions, such as planning, working memory, and impulse control. The size of the brain increases fourfold in the preschool period, and by age 6, it reaches around 90% of its adult volume. From the moment the brain begins to develop in the third week of gestation to old age, its complex structures and functions are changing, networks and pathways connecting and severing.ĭuring the first few years of life, the brain forms more than 1 million new neural connections every second. Throughout a lifetime, the brain changes more than any other part of the body. Is brain aging a slippery slope that we need to accept? Or are there steps that we can take to reduce the rate of decline?Īt around 3 pounds in weight, the human brain is a staggering feat of engineering, with around 100 billion neurons interconnected via trillions of synapses. Slowing down brain aging or stopping it altogether would be the ultimate elixir to achieve eternal youth. Share on Pinterest The effects of aging on the brain can vary from person to person.
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