After I returned to Austin Texas in late 2017 to live in the family house of my childhood I started a discussion group (The Austin Rainbow Forum) that meets on the first Sunday of every month at 2 p.m. to discuss a contemporary topic or idea, with background reading usually provided before each meeting. On this coming Sunday, August 4, our topic is "Positive Aspects of Aging." I thought I would share with MindBlog readers the background material I recently sent out to the group:
Here is an article that summarizes studies on factors that influence longevity :
The Key to Longevity is Boring
And here is the response to my asking ChatGPT 4o :
“Can you summarize and point to research showing that senior adult brains are better at some cognitive and emotional functions than younger brains?”
The bot’s response:
Research indicates that senior adult brains can outperform younger brains in several cognitive and emotional functions due to a variety of factors including accumulated knowledge, experience, and certain adaptive changes in the brain.
Cognitive Abilities: Older adults often have larger vocabularies and a greater depth of word knowledge than younger adults. They excel in tasks that rely on accumulated knowledge and experience, such as language comprehension and usage (https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/brain-health/how-aging-brain-affects-thinking) (https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/some-brain-functions-may-improve-age) .
Emotional Regulation: Seniors tend to exhibit greater emotional stability, experiencing fewer negative emotions and showing reduced emotional reactivity compared to younger adults. This improved emotional regulation is linked to better overall well-being and mental health (https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/brain-health/how-aging-brain-affects-thinking) (https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/cognitive-super-agers-defy-typical-age-related-decline-brainpower)
Attention and Distraction Management: Studies have shown that older adults can become more efficient at focusing their attention and ignoring distractions as they age. This ability, part of what is termed "executive control," often improves into the mid-to-late 70s (https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/some-brain-functions-may-improve-age) .
Judgment and Decision-Making: Older adults are generally better at making rational decisions and demonstrating improved judgment. This may be due to the brain’s ability to adapt and recruit additional neural resources to compensate for age-related declines in other areas (https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/brain-health/how-aging-brain-affects-thinking) .
Cognitive Reserve and Brain Maintenance: Some seniors, referred to as "cognitive super agers," maintain cognitive functions on par with much younger individuals. These super agers typically have slower rates of brain volume loss, and their brains show structural characteristics similar to those of younger people, such as a thicker cortex and a larger hippocampus (https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/cognitive-super-agers-defy-typical-age-related-decline-brainpower) .
These findings illustrate that while certain cognitive functions may decline with age, other areas can improve or remain stable, leading to a nuanced understanding of cognitive aging. For further reading, you can refer to the research conducted by the National Institute on Aging and other related studies (https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/brain-health/how-aging-brain-affects-thinking) (https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/cognitive-super-agers-defy-typical-age-related-decline-brainpower) (https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/some-brain-functions-may-improve-age) .
