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Community => Science and Technology => Topic started by: CaseAgainstFaith on January 06, 2012, 04:34:29 pm

Title: Mental Sharpness declines as early as 45
Post by: CaseAgainstFaith on January 06, 2012, 04:34:29 pm
Quote
The brain's abilities to reason, comprehend and remember may start to worsen as early as age 45, a new study from England suggests.

Researchers gave tests of thinking skills to about 5,100 men and 2,200 women between the ages of 45 and 70 years over a 10-year period. They found people ages 45 to 49 years experienced a notable decline in mental functioning.

"'Senior' moments that people often joke about are true," said Dr. Gary Small, geriatric psychiatrist David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, who was not involved with the work.

"If you follow people over time, you'll see there are structural changes that happen in the brain as they age," he said.

The study was published today (Jan. 5) in the British Medical Journal.
About 1 in 8 older Americans have Alzheimer's disease, according to the Alzheimer's Association. They anticipate the numbers will grow each year as more and more people continue to live longer.

Though the age at which cognitive decline begins remains unknown, researchers say the new study demonstrates the importance of a healthy lifestyle, particularly paying attention to cardiovascular health, which may help stave off the effects of brain aging.

"A decline in mental function is inevitable," said Steven Ferris, a psychologist at New York University's Langone Medical Center, who was not involved with the work. "Following a healthy lifestyle can help a certain degree of mental functioning, but there requires more research to prove this."

A healthy lifestyle includes exercising, which increases blood flow to the brain, providing it with much-needed nutrients. Eating foods that are good for the heart, such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains is also important, because it could protect brain cells from age-related decline.


http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/01/06/mental-sharpness-begins-to-decline-in-middle-age/ (http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/01/06/mental-sharpness-begins-to-decline-in-middle-age/)

Well now I never want to get older than 45.....or 40 really if I had a choice haha. I like my mental sharpness and I certainly don't want to lose it. 
Title: Re: Mental Sharpness declines as early as 45
Post by: Vene on January 06, 2012, 06:54:35 pm
Then make sure your heart is healthy and do things that force you to think.
Title: Re: Mental Sharpness declines as early as 45
Post by: MaybeNever on January 06, 2012, 06:58:25 pm
The alternative is to make sure your heart is really unhealthy so you kick off at 44.
Title: Re: Mental Sharpness declines as early as 45
Post by: Osama bin Bambi on January 06, 2012, 07:36:11 pm
Then make sure your heart is healthy and do things that force you to think.

I prefer intellectual exercises such as brain teasers, Ace Attorney games, chess, and thinking of ways to get away with murder. You'd be surprised how hard the last one is.
Title: Re: Mental Sharpness declines as early as 45
Post by: Cataclysm on January 06, 2012, 08:22:55 pm
Posion darts.

But hopefully they will find a way to slow down or cure this effect in the future. Kind of like the new PoTA movie.
Title: Re: Mental Sharpness declines as early as 45
Post by: MaybeNever on January 07, 2012, 01:35:08 am
There are probably ways to slow it down, but I think the fundamental problem is that our brains are enormously complex and weren't really equipped for a lifespan beyond maybe forty or fifty years. That hasn't stopped us correcting similar deficiencies in other areas of the body, but the brain's fairly unique in a lot of ways that make any treatment or rejuvenation very difficult at best, and insanely risky at worst.
Title: Re: Mental Sharpness declines as early as 45
Post by: Old Viking on January 07, 2012, 09:22:00 pm
I dispute this vigorously.

What is it we're discussing?