Wednesday, May 21, 2008

You're not really forgetful. You're just more aware ...

Yes, and you're getting handsomer too.

Can I interest you in some Florida real estate?
Memory Loss - Aging - Alzheimer's Disease - Aging Brains Take In More Information, Studies Show - Health - New York Times

When older people can no longer remember names at a cocktail party, they tend to think that their brainpower is declining. But a growing number of studies suggest that this assumption is often wrong.

Instead, the research finds, the aging brain is simply taking in more data and trying to sift through a clutter of information, often to its long-term benefit...
I confess, I made a rude noise when I read this one. I'm just glad I wasn't drinking at the time -- could have been hard on the ol' laptop.

There ain't no way my brain is improving with age!

It's a nice dream though. There are worse things than denial ... :-).

6 comments:

CB McCleary said...

Seeing that you blog regularly about the brain, I thought you might want to take a look at my husband's blog - www.drmccleary.com. You might find some things of interest to you there or in his book The Brain Trust Program: A Scientifically Based Three-Part Plan to Improve Memory, Elevate Mood, Enhance Attention, Alleviate Migraine and Menopausal Symptoms, and Boost Mental Energy (Penguin, September, 2007). You can also listen to some audio interviews there if interested. The link to the appropriate page of his recent interview on Rewiring the Brain II episode of The Infinite Mind has changed to http://www.lcmedia.com/mindprgm.htm

BTW, I'm not expecting you to post this comment. Just giving it to you as a potential source for food for thought.

Christine McCleary

Anonymous said...

Do you really think it was an auto blog search post and then to call the nice lady’s husband’s book silly! I can’t remember/ not aware of the last time you did that.

The whole trend to make us old fogies think that it we have not been going through a process of mental decline but in actuality creating buckets wisdom is a conspiracy!

As we near the time when Social Security benefits should be awarded a letter will arrive telling us that due to the accumulated skill set acquired over the past decades we will be expected to plug back into a competitive employment situation.

Enclosed will be an appointment with the local spect-scan professional, Wired mag page 200, $3, 300, not covered by insurance, who will tell us the good/bad news. Due to the extraordinary amount of brain activity in the ventro-medial cortex, further employment will be mandated and SS will be denied.

The real task of course is to remember the appointment!

Cheers, Alan

JGF said...

You're right, silly is harsh. I guess I was thinking the list of promised improvements seemed rather long.

So I retract the silly bit.

CB McCleary said...

I am a real person, using my real name and identity, who found your blog via a blog search and took the time to look at it. No, I didn't read all of your other posts, but saw that you had blogged about the brain and mind 213 times and thought you might want to take a look at my husband's blog or book.

I thought you might welcome the information a well educated expert (board certified in neurosurgery) on brain health, who stays current about new developments within the neuroscience medical literature, provides through his blog. The only way I knew to contact you was via your comment section. I would have preferred to contact you privately with the hope you might subsequently find some things of interest from Larry's blog or book that you might address in your blog. Assuming you had my personal email address (please let me know if that is not the case and I will provide it), I anticipated hearing from you if you had any reaction to the information I provided rather than have you post my comment. That's why I said I didn't expect you to post it, but was giving it to you as a potential source for food for thought.

I'm just trying to get the word out about the book, which The LA Times and The Chicago Tribune among others reviewed positively. I'm a neophyte in the blogging world and am struggling to contact people who may be interested and can help promote discussion of the book. Perhaps I should stick to contacting print and broadcast media when the only means I have to contact a blogger is via his comments section.

Thank you for the retraction of "silly." As is normally the case in the publishing world, Penguin named the book and chose to include a lot of different areas that were addressed within in the title with the hope of attracting readers who are interested in the various subjects. The bibliography includes over 350 medical journal references, on which the recommendations within the book are based.

JGF said...

Wow, talk about embarrassing!

Christine, I deleted the "silly" comment because, well, I could.

I'll take a look at the book. I do wish Penguin had shortened the list of promised improvements.

I used to have a mail link on the blog, but it looks like it got removed during one of my template revisions. I'll add it back in.

I'm sorry!

CB McCleary said...

My purpose wasn't to embarrass you, only to ask you to take an unbiased look.

However, I appreciate and accept your apology.

Christine McCleary