A Shard of TruthNeuroscience tells us that your brain contains 100 billion neurons, but it will shrink by five to ten percent over your lifetime. How many neurons do you lose? No neuroscientist will offer an answer: the question may be impossible to research or know with certainty. Nevertheless, if you do the math and assume a modest five percent rate, you lose almost eleven thousand neurons per hour. Advancing age, sedentary lifestyle, stress, pain, and boredom hasten your demise. Routine kills. Your brain atrophies, which is a polite way of saying it shrivels like an overripe kiwi. Beneath the misshapen exterior are masses of scar tissue, amyloid plagues and neurofibrillary tangles. This gunk made up of protein fragments and dying cells disrupts your memory and ability to think.
Your brain reaches its peak speeds at about age 18. It reaches maturity in your mid-twenties after all the major systems are fully integrated and myelinated (i.e., an insulating coating for transmission). New research now shows that your brain begins to deteriorate at about this same time.
Senior Moments Begin at 27 »article
Submitted by MedHeadlines on 18 March, 2009 – 23:10
Baby Boomers using the ’senior moments’ excuse to explain away forgetfulness can stop being embarrassed about it. New research from the University of Virginia says the brain actually begins declining at age 27. We just might expect it more often in our middle years than in young adulthood.
Professor Timothy Salthouse and his university research team followed 2,000 healthy individuals, aged 18 to 60, for a seven-year study of mental agility. The team used twelve of the same tests during the study that physicians use to diagnose dementia – puzzles, recalled words and story details, and patterns in symbols and letters.
Some of his findings, published in the current issue of the medical journal, ‘Neurobiology of Aging,’ include:
- In 75% of the tests, peak performance occurred at age 22
- In tests of brain speed, visual puzzle-solving ability, and reasoning, the first signs of mental decline appeared at age 27
- At age 37, memory begins to decline
- Abilities that rely on accumulated knowledge, such as general information and vocabulary, continue to develop until age 60
Of these findings, Rebecca Wood, of the British Alzheimer’s Research Trust, says mental decline begins much earlier than imagined and knowing this could help gain a better understanding of diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
