As a person ages, their brain changes. Studies indicate that our cognitive functions decline with age:

Summarized from www.lifeextension.com

"All aging humans will develop some degree of decline in cognitive capacity, usually including the following symptoms:

• forgetfulness
• decreased ability to maintain focus
• decreased problem solving capacity

If left unchecked, symptoms oftentimes progress into more serious conditions, such as dementia and depression, or even Alzheimer’s disease.

Fortunately, proactive lifestyle changes, cognitive training, and nutritional interventions such as phosphatidylserine and glyceryl phosphoryl choline have been shown to decrease the rate of intellectual decay and potentially reverse age-related cognitive decline.

Causes of Age-Related Cognitive Decline

Many factors contribute to age-related cognitive decline:

• Oxidative stress and free radical damage
• Chronic low-level inflammation
• Declining hormone levels like estrogen, testosterone, DHEA, pregnenolone
• Inner arterial lining (endothelium) dysfunction
• Insulin resistance
• Excess body weight
• Suboptimal nutrition
• Loneliness, lack of social network, and high stress

Dietary and Lifestyle Changes

Several dietary and lifestyle changes can help reduce age-related cognitive decline:

• Switch from a western diet high in simple sugars and saturated fats to a Mediterranean diet high in mono- and polyunsaturated omega-3 fats, fiber, and polyphenols
• Caloric restriction may improve learning and memory
• Cognitive stimulation and training, including playing chess and speaking more than one language, can enhance cognitive reserve and convey protection against loss of brain function
• Exercise is known to increase levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which can lead to enhanced cognitive function
• Moderate alcohol consumption (up to 2 drinks/day) and caffeinated coffee consumption (~3 cups/day) may convey protection against cognitive decline

Integrative Interventions

• Fish Oil: Daily omega-3 supplementation was independently associated with a dramatic reduction in cognitive decline over a 1.5-year period in an aging study population.
• Phosphatidylserine: Human clinical trials have found that supplementing with phosphatidylserine improves cognitive function in aging subjects with cognitive impairment.
• Glyceryl Phosphoryl Choline (GPC): Patients taking GPC showed neurological improvement and relief of clinical symptoms of chronic cerebral deterioration that was superior or equivalent to that obtained with prescription drugs.
• Acetyl-L-carnitine: A meta-analysis of data from over 21 studies shows that supplementation with acetyl-L-carnitine improves cognitive deficits observed during aging and pathological brain deterioration.
• Huperzine A: Patients with Alzheimer’s disease improved their scores on standard cognitive tests after supplementing with huperzine A.

 

HOWEVER- Scientists doing research tend to be nearsighted, and often fail to see the big picture- that's just the nature of research.

Although standard concepts of cognition may be seen to decline, such as

Verbal learning and memory, figural memory, languag, attention, perceptuomotor speed and integraton, executive function, and visuopatial ability (things that were tested in a recent aging brain study)-  what about

 

Intuition and paranormal sensitivity

Moral Judgment

Value perception and perspective

Appreciation of self, others, and nature,

Level of Happiness

???

Aren't these brain functions as valuable as SPELLING?

Let's just look at one of these, and see how it changes with age....

 

WHAT ABOUT HAPPINESS?

From The Huffington Post:

Now although cognition may decline as we age- the better news is that life for most people gets better as we get older:

A highly-publicized recent study suggested that there might be two major peaks of life satisfaction — one in the early 20s and one in old age. Specifically, the ages of 23 and 69 were found to be the happiest years. After the early 20s, happiness was generally found to decline until the mid-50s, after which point it increased again into the 80s.

Other studies (notably, a large 2010 Gallup poll) have corroborated this finding, suggesting that happiness tends to be positively linked with age. Though it may sound counterintuitive, the Gallup poll found that 85-year-olds are generally more satisfied with themselves than 18-year-olds.

“It’s a very encouraging fact that we can expect to be happier in our early 80s than we were in our 20s,” Andrew J. Oswald, a professor of psychology at Warwick Business School, told the New York Times. “And it’s not being driven predominantly by things that happen in life. It’s something very deep and quite human that seems to be driving this.”

The types of experiences that make us happy tend to shift as we move through life. Research from Brown University, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, found that while young people tend to seek out and highly prize extraordinary experiences — such as travel, falling in love or thrill-seeking, which can help them to build a greater sense of personal identity — older adults assign higher value to ordinary experiences and everyday pleasures, and derive identity from these types of experiences.