Good news for the over-40 crowd: some of our brain functions actually improve with age.
Our brain processing speed and short-term memory suffer a bit (where did I leave my keys?), but our reasoning and judgement skills, perspective and ability to make connections increase. And here’s my favorite: according to Barbara Strauch, “as we age, we get better at seeing the possible.”
Barbara Strauch is deputy science editor and health and medical science editor at The New York Times and author of the forthcoming book, The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind, coming out in April.
More good news: there are things we can do to maximize our mid-life brain power. Chief among them appears to be exercise. Another biggie is getting out of our comfort zones (now there is a subject near and dear to my coach-heart). Time to take a break and do some stretches…
I can’t wait to read Barbara’s book. Until the book comes out, you can find out more from Barbara’s posts on the Harvard Business Review blog:
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/02/harnessing_your_brain_power.html
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/02/brain_functions_that_improve_w.html
The Winged Life 