
Brain peaks at 39 years of age and declines thereafter - nreece
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/physical-decline-caused-by-slow-64365.aspx
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ivankirigin
I just turned 27. I've been told we learned more about the brain in the 90s
than all previous history combined. My hope is the given the amount of
research going into myelin breakdown because of diseases like MS, by the time
I'm 39, that date can be pushed back a bit. Escape velocity with respect to
anti-aging is a delightful idea.

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jodrellblank
The article says they found a striking correlation - I wonder how one gets to
be one of the outlying data points (on the good side)?

What's the betting it can be affected with dietary changes?

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nazgulnarsil
I would bet on Omega-3 fatty acids. no proof, but enough correlation to raise
my eyebrow.

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ivankirigin
I would bet on advancement in drugs used to treat MS. They would be applied
more broadly in short order.

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rw
This study is more rigorous than this title implies. It isn't about age vs.
mental acuity; it's a test of myelin density vs. mental acuity. Myelin tends
to disappear as we get older, after about age 39, so that is how these
researchers got the connection to aging.

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lutorm
Actually, it's myelin density vs the neural processing _speed_. It doesn't say
anything about whether your mental acuity declines after 39, just that it does
things slower. (Which is good, I can deal with thinking slower as long as I
don't get dumber. Hopefully my increased experience and accumulated wisdom
will outweigh the slower cognitive processes... ;-)

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a-priori
I haven't read the article yet, so I may be off base here, but...

While I don't doubt their results, you make a good point that it's important
to not over-generalize the results by mistaking neuronal processing speed for
mental acuity. Motor control, maybe, and this may help explain why the elderly
are frail and unsteady. However, to make any claims about reduced cognitive
abilities, you need to show that neuroplasticity cannot compensate for the
impaired processing speed.

However, even if it can be compensated for, it would still a case of "use it
or lose it".

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Retric
There is a direct link between processing speed and intellect. The faster you
think the more things you can think about at the same time which is probably
why reading faster increases comprehension. One of the ideas is that when you
bring up a memory you keep it "alive" for a consistent fraction of a second,
but if you can bring more things into focus you have more time to work out
relationships before your first memory / idea times out.

PS: Think about what it's like once you "load up" a complex problem. You can't
think about other things while coding, which is why people hate to be
interrupted while coding.

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henning
Good thing sheer brain power is only a small part of achieving remarkable
things.

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eyudkowsky
You over 39?

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henning
I'm 23.

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brlewis
Young folk, don't be discouraged by this article. You don't have to wait until
you're 39 to do great things.

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biohacker42
Hmmm... when I was young I was told the peak is 25 not 39, go figure.

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known
Does it mean we should not elect politicians who are over 39?

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nazgulnarsil
electing old people is another unavoidable problem with democracy. only the
best connected can ever get serious backing, and it takes years to gain that
kind of backing.

then there is the problem that the old are out of touch with the needs and
desires of "normal people". People become strange once their sex drive deserts
them. And it is the sex drive that forms society (desire for maximization of
offspring survival encourages cooperation. Animals with extended gestation
periods tend to be the most social. Of course it could be that being social
_allows_ for longer gestation. chicken and egg.)

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Tichy
There is such a thing as youthful folly, though. I have changed my mind on a
lot of things, and I am only 35 yet. I think some experience is good for a
politician.

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xiaoma
Can you be sure your current views are better than those you held a decade
ago?

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Tichy
In most cases, yes, because I see the broader picture and have information
that I did not have as a young person. But of course experience tells me that
I am mostly wrong at the moment, too.

I guess at my death bed I will convert to religion... (no, I hope not).

