Post by Thoithoi O'Cottage on Apr 24, 2014 5:04:39 GMT 5.5
Nearly all of us, common people and scientists alike, think that not only does our brain stop growing but its health begins to decline as we reach our middle age, like any other parts of our body such as the knees, hip joints, the waist, the eyes, etc. Parts of our body get worn out when we have used them for years, and some sometimes require replacement—we often hear of things like knee replacement surgery, etc.
Yet, interestingly, this time I was serious when I heard a New Dimensions Radio recording of an interview of a scientist again very recently (before that I’d read some stuff about this matter from some psychology blogs which could not engage me long)—the scientist said our brain is not one of our body parts which weakens with age, it only continues to grow (it never stops growing, and in fact new neurons grow besides the ones we already have), and we become smarter as we get older.
I’m not a scientist, not even a student of science either any more. But I think there is some at least some truth in this. While there can be cases of memory lapses, the brains of older people seem to be more complex (not complicated) and function more capably that most of the contributions humans have ever made in various fields of our civilization were made during the 50s, 60s and 70s and even after that, be it in many fields of science, literature, philosophy, culture, etc. I don’t think what the brains of these people did was only to process the information they had accumulated earlier. Information processing is not just a passive thing, it involves a lot of critical analysis, examination, evaluation, which an unhealthy mind cannot do, and besides that the brains of these people during this period of their lives did not stop learning, and they learnt a lot of new things they had not learned in their earlier life, and thus they could evaluate their old learning in the light of their new learning.
Even geniuses are better in their old ages, if they are mad in their old age. Yes, some brains deteriorate like any other organ of the body, but that does not have anything to do specifically with ageing. In fact most people stop learning particularly when they approach their retirement from jobs, and once they retire they get out of the loop and most of them become “outdated”, and they retire to a more relaxed lifestyle, which is fine. But their getting out of the loop and stop participating in the ongoing activities of civilization is their decision; it’s not that the brain is incapable of engaging in serious things after that point of time. Yes, our belief about the capability and health of the brain, and our many myths about our brain really inform our old age plans and decisions.
