If we’re lucky, we’ll live to a great old age. But with those ‘good innings’ comes a lot of concerning myths about our aging brains. The good news is that you can cross some of those worries off your list. The Global Council on Brain Health (an independent collaboration of scientists, health professionals, scholars and policy experts) reports that a number of these myths have been researched – and debunked:
- Old people can’t learn things
“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” – not true. It might take longer, but you can teach old dogs, and humans, new tricks. In fact, trying something new actually stimulates the brain. Learn a musical instrument or another language – something that’s fun, challenging and will let you form new relationships.
That’s why games like Sudoku aren’t the answer. They’ll quickly stop being challenging, and you’ll also miss out on that social aspect.
- If you were born dim, you’ll always be dim
No. That wonderful brain of yours, scientists have discovered, can grow new neurons in the areas of memory and learning – at any age. This discovery can now help people to better brain health, and may even reverse brain damage and neurodegenerative disorders in the future.
- Doctors still don’t know much about the brain
New things are being uncovered every day, in spite of the deep complexity of the human brain. Growing new neurons is the tip of the potential iceberg, and there’s hope that new treatments will emerge in the near future. For example Theodore Berger, a neuroscientist at the University of Southern California-Los Angeles, created a chip implant that mimics the neuronal networks that form long-term memories. These could potentially reverse the effects of diseases like Alzheimer’s.
- Live long enough and you’ll get dementia
You can understand where this myth came from: we’re more vulnerable to health events as we age, and we’re living longer, so the rate of dementia is also rising. Dementia is caused by disease, age-related events like strokes, not age itself. So just because you lose your keys doesn’t mean you have dementia.
- When you’re old, you forget things
Older people don’t have a monopoly on forgetfulness. Everyone forgets things, because memory is notoriously tricky. The process of storing and retrieving memories is complex, involving billions of neurons and trillions of synapses operating seamlessly together. Healthy people can forget seemingly critical moments, mind-blank on things they know, and even invent new memories out of thin air.
Memory training’s great – but only if you keep it up
“Use it or lose it” applies to any kind of fitness. Memory training might improve your cognitive function, but only as long as you keep it up. And instead of playing sudoku, you’re better off lunching with friends, joining a walking group or a bridge club, or volunteering at Citizen’s Advice. That way you’re maintaining connections with your community, growing new neurons, and giving your brain its best chance at good health.