The cognitive decline related to age is a well-known topic, but aging is not quite a bad news regarding its mental abilities. According to a new study of the Georgetown University Medical Center, two critical mental skills can improve with age, allowing older adults to better manage new data and zero in important information.
The new study is based on some small-scale research that has found aging may not guarantee cognitive decline and that, in fact, this can improve aspects of cognition. Researchers suggest that it may be possible to improve these critical mental skills to help mitigate the decline of the brain that occurs with natural aging.
The results were based on a study of 702 participants aged 58 to 98, the age range during which aging has the greatest impact on cognitive change. Researchers have focused on three key aspects of cognition: inhibition of management, alert and orientation.
Among these three critical brain functions, only “alert” was judged worse with age; This skill consists of being prepared and vigilant for new information. The other two, guidance and inhibition of management, have both been deemed improved with age, serving as a strong foundation for things such as decision-making and self-control.
The main investigator of Michael T. Ullman, Ph.D., said:
People have extensively assumed that the attention and functions of the executive are decreasing with age, despite intriguing notes of some smaller studies that have raised questions about these assumptions. But the results of our extensive study indicate that the critical elements of these capacities really improve during aging, probably because we simply practice these skills throughout our lives.
