'Old' starts at 45

Most popular lifestyle magazines adapted a mantra that people always cite. It goes something like “40 is the new 30; 50 is the new 40 and so on and so forth.” Some even go as far as to actually subtract 20 years from their actual age. I do not know how much neurobiological evidence really went to supporting those ads. One time, I wondered that maybe they were comparing the life expectancy during the Middle Ages and the 21st century. I am saying this because it could not be just between my generation and the one before mine because science has just revealed that it may be really downhill for people starting age 45.

I am 45 and since there is no reason to believe that I have special mental powers, that news was particularly alarming. The study predicts that people, starting at age 45, will decline in their ability to reason, comprehend and remember by about 3.6 percent. This recent finding by the British Medical Journal is based on their sampling of 5,100 men and 2,200 women aged 45 to 70 whom they tested over 10 years.

The brain’s physical structure is really known to change (in fact, shrink as far as the gray matter is concerned) when you reach old age. But as to exactly when “old age” really begins in terms of cognitive ability was never really clear. The number being floated before this study was “60” but now scientists have tests to show that “old” starts at 45.

It is pretty scary to think that I will be less able to reason, understand and remember 10 years from now. I am not sure what 3.6 percent decline in those abilities would exactly translate to. Would I do away with a few gaps in logical reasoning when I write or speak? Would it mean that I would understand at a much lesser level or would I require a longer time to understand things? The study found that there did not seem to be a decrease in vocabulary which is some sort of a consolation since I am a writer but with waning abilities to reason and understand, what would I do with so many words in my mental locker?

The scientists were quick to make readers feel better by saying that it would help that we help our brains by ensuring good blood circulation with exercise and eating right. As to how much exercise we have to do and how much “brain” food we have to eat such as foods containing omega 3 fatty acids (like fish), in order to slow or prevent cognitive decline — it is not known. Science just knows that those help significantly.

For some strange reason, I still prefer being 45 now than 25. In fact, I personally think I am in a good place in terms of mind’s life than I was in my younger days. I know I am able to remember lesser details now but maybe that is just it, time has blown its winds across the meadows and forests of my mind, and what I retained is really what is at my core. Maybe it is and maybe I am just trying to make myself feel better since I just do not have a choice but to accept the state of my own mind at 45.

Studies done on middle-aged brains are however reassuring in other aspects. I have written about that in a column entitled “Middle Girth” last year. It speaks of hope for the middle-aged brain that is biologically headed downhill. Findings have shown that what middle-aged minds lose in details, we make up in our ability to see the big picture. It is like being far enough to see the big picture and not the pixels. That would account for older people’s ability and advantage over the young with perspective and problem-solving. 

The best advice given by scientists is still to never settle for what you already know and are used to so that new connections in your mind are formed. You may not stop the downhill trip altogether but at least you get to take the most enjoyable detours and side trips along the way. And as literature by Samuel Ullman would say — “Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.” And as lifestyle magazines show you in their pages, proven anti-wrinkle solutions for the skin are on sales counters everywhere. But you will not find bottled anti-wrinkle concoctions for the soul.

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