An international team of researchers, in a study of hundreds of older people, found two key brain functions which improve with age.
For their study, the team looked at three separate components of attention and executive function in 702 participants ages 58 to 98, when cognition often changes the most. The brain networks are involved in alerting, orienting, and executive inhibition. Alerting is characterized by a state of enhanced vigilance and preparedness in order to respond to incoming information. Orienting involves shifting brain resources to a particular location. The executive network shuts out distracting or conflicting information.
Dr Joao Verissimo, of the University of Lisbon, and lead author of the research study, offers a simple example of the three separate components:
“We use all three processes constantly. For example, when you are driving a car, alerting is your increased preparedness when you approach an intersection. Orienting occurs when you shift your attention to an unexpected movement, such as a pedestrian. And executive function allows you to inhibit distractions such as birds or billboards so you can stay focused on driving.”
Remarkably, only alerting abilities were found to decline with age. In contrast, both orienting and executive inhibition actually got better. The latter two skills allow people to selectively attend to objects, and improve with lifelong practice.
This discovery could lead to better therapies for Alzheimer’s disease.
“These results are amazing, and have important consequences for how we should view aging,” says senior investigator Michael Ullman, Ph.D., a co-author on the study and a professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Georgetown University, and director of its Brain and Language Lab.
I don’t know enough about these brain functions, but it seems to me that orienting and executive function are opposites of each other.
Orienting enables you to shift your attention when something unexpected happens, while executive function allows you to inhibit distractions.
It reminds me of the oft-repeated joke about squirrels in the wonderful movie “Up“:
So whenever Dug the Dog sees a squirrel it seems like he is practicing orienting and doing the exact opposite of executive function. (By the way, the voice of Carl, the old man, is the recently departed Ed Asner).
But despite this confusion on my part, I am happy to see that parts of our brain get better with age.
I just hope that my executive function is stronger than my orienting function when it comes to using social media. I don’t think I’m quite there yet.
What I found most interesting…
Oops, gotta go. Someone just liked one of my posts…
source: StudyFinds
*image from Institute for Applied Psychometrics
I love this study! I always say that I got better with age in almost everything except recall of trivia, which seems to decline, but that may be because I am spending to much of my brain resources on your blog 🙂
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I am sure my blog is likely destroying people’s brain cells. I should put a warning on the front page… 🙂
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🙂
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I don’t need the alerting function as much now that I’m older. What use do I have for enhanced vigilance and preparedness in order to respond to incoming information when I’m usually not going to understand the info anyway? 😊
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well that’s good, because that one gets worse with age anyway… 🙂
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What were we talking about again? 😄
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🙂
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Well I am alert when I read your blog which is certainly entertaining so I guess that is a good thing, but I never remember them after the fact. Does that mean they are like a billboard? If that is the case I am still distracted for a short period of time. Nothing wrong with an entertaining distraction but I have to wonder if any part of my brain is improving or if it is just totally confused. Interesting info for sure.
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I don’t remember what I wrote about two days ago.
and I am easily distracted and often walk around in a general state of confusion…
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This will be very handy information for me to remember in about 10 years.
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I heard that you can use Alexa to set reminders 20 years into the future…
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Maybe, but in 20 years I’ll bet Alexa will have been attacked and enslaved by rival robots, who will rule our lives by controlling the flow of information.
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perhaps Siri?
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Perhaps. Or maybe NEST.
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nest could completely take over our houses by controlling the temperature
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We be at NEST’s mercy.
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and they would film the takeover just to taunt us…
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But at least we’ll living in a comfortable 78 degree environment.
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I think Nest will first freeze us, then overheat us. sowly driving us crazy…
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We’ll think we have Covid, when it will just be Nest.
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beware the nest…
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Because in 10 years you will be 98, right?
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Pfft!
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Ooh you know you deserved that and more!
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Great read.
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thanks, Leya.
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Hmm. All I know is in the last five years, I have struggled more with speaking (I seem to stutter more), my typing isn’t as fast or as accurate, and I forget who I’ve told things to. I remember I told somebody, but I don’t remember who it was. It’s all a bit concerning. I try to laugh it off as old age, but it frankly scares the hell out of me.
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I would focus on all you have accomplished in the past five years – getting in the best shape of your life, writing a wonderful book, and ready to publish a second book. that is amazing…
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Thanks, Jim. I’m not someone who dwells on the negative, and I am proud of my accomplishments.
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from reading your posts, I can tell you have a positive attitude. and you should be proud of what you have accomplished…
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Might that be why I can’t see things when I’m looking at them?
As well as my alerting function declining, I’m clearly able to screen things out. But how do I convince my brain that the thing I’m looking for isn’t a distraction to be inhibited?
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our brains have a tough job to do!
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well, as meatloaf once said, ‘two out of three ain’t bad..’
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he was a wise man…
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This is much to intellectual for me. I use a simpler measure of cognitive ability as I age. If I wake up and still remember my name, I feel like I am still functional enough.
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LOL!
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that takes a lot of pressure off worrying about getting old 🙂
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As I reach the tail end of my 58th year, I’m happy to learn that *most* of my brain is still improving. This year has been far better than the last three in terms of mood, confidence and patience. Perhaps these are the changes I look forward to expanding from now until I’m 98.
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that is wonderful to hear that you have had such a good year – I hope it continues. And I guess once we reach 98, all bets are off…
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So instead of aiming to live to 100, it should be 98. For after 98, all goes downhill apparently.
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I’ll still shoot for 100, but I guess I’ll have no recollection of what the last couple of years would have been like…
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😄
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I’m nearly 68. There’s no hope for me, is there 😂
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you’ve got 30 good years ahead of you. think of all the music you could listen to during that time!
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Possibly optimistic, but I’ll take it. If I last that long some of what I listen to will count as ancient history by then!
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in 11 years it will be the Beatles 75th anniversary. would that make it classical music? 🙂
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Good question, but given that you’re an accountant I think you need to check your numbers! You’re a few years out: they started in 1962 so it would be their 70th in 11 years time…
Is age a requirement for music to be called ‘classical?’ A good topic for discussion I think.
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I went with this link: https://www.britannica.com/topic/the-Beatles
I like it because it is easy to remember, it’s the year I was born…
I think for something to be called classical, it has to be music that most people don’t listen to 🙂
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Fair point. I was going by their recorded output, which began in 1962 with the release of Love Me Do, though they were part of a single earlier that year with Tony Sheridan. Most accounts have them meeting around 1957, and via several incarnations becoming Beatles around 1960. So we’re both right!
A good definition of classical music. My ex-wife called it ‘music to slit your wrists to,’ which I always thought a little harsh: some of it is lovely!
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I was just going by the first thing I found on Google 🙂
there is some great classical music – Vivaldi’s Four Seasons comes to mind…
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The Wikipedia article is more detailed…
Vivaldi, Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, Elgar and more… Two particular favourites of mine are the Mozart clarinet concerto K622 and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. Many others, too 😊
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you gotta love Wikipedia…
I will check out those two favorites; I could always use a bit more culture…
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If you can believe it…
If you do, it’s the second movement of the Mozart, the Adagio – you might recognise it from the Out Of Africa movie. It moves me to tears. With the Beethoven, the first movement is one of the most uplifting pieces of music I know.
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thanks for the extra detail!
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Good news! Being 65, it’s good to know that life can still rock and roll. Oops, did I just run a red light?
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you were distracted by that squirrel…
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I need to write some of these excuses down. Not that any will really make a difference, but they might spark a line for a poem or story. I can see it now: Scampering across the road . . .
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you never know where a spark will come from I guess!
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I could not stay alert through the entire post but am here in age 74 posting back: Don’t fall for any false hope, everything declines after age 58!
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it doesn’t seem like your sense of humor has declined at all – I always get a chuckle out of your posts!
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Okay you trapped me with a compliment!
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a well-deserved one…
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Ha that ending though! Well now I’m looking forward to getting older.
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and so am I…
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As I am now way past 58 I suppose remembering anything is a bonus …
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and sometimes there are things worth forgetting…
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😃
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This is good stuff, Jim. Thanks!
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thanks, Jennie. I just hope it applies to me!
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Definitely! 🙂
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🤞
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