What’s the Good Thing about Growing Old?
Growing old is a basic life process that happens to every one of us. Aging means a lot of negative things for many people. It can mean failing eyesight, developing wrinkles, forgetting things, and so on. But despite these, experts suggest that there’s something really amazing about growing old.
What do lab tests say about aging?
Many studies show that as people increase in age, the neural connections that process, receive, and transmit information tend to weaken over the years and through disuse. Thus, aging people find it hard to learn new things, react slower than their younger counterparts, and tend to be forgetful to the extent of forgetting the names of their loved ones and the basic routines they usually do like brushing the teeth, combing, and taking a bath. Furthermore, some studies show that older people lose the ability to multitask.
But it isn’t always the case.
The Positive Side of Aging
Timothy A. Salthouse, a professor of psychology and director of the Cognitive Aging Laboratory at the University of Virginia, observed that most of the assertions about cognitive aging are not based on well-established empirical evidence. He also pointed out that discoveries made in laboratories did not necessarily correlate to the success that happens in the real world, and that there are some differences between people of the same age.
Based on his analysis, seniors are more innovative and creative than their younger generations.
There are some scientific evidences which prove that brain actually improves with age. For instance, in a study by Dr Gary Small of the UCLA Centre on Aging, it was found that there are neuro-circuitry factors that favour age.
The first one is empathy. According to Dr Small, empathy is the foundation of human-centred design process. He said that older people have greater capacity for empathy because this value is something that’s learned and defined though age.
Kathleen Taylor, a professor at the Mary’s College of California and an internationally recognised authority on adult learning said that empathy is a developmental stage that lasts through teens and into the 20s. But for some people, it takes longer.
She compared our brain to like having overfull drawers, and those things we can’t recall haven’t totally disappeared. They’re just there, stuck somewhere in the fold of our neurons.
Older people are also very much capable when it comes to the ‘define’ aspect of the human-centred-design. This process refers to the unpacking and synthesising findings into compelling needs and insights. Older people are able to create a larger picture out of different parts of their memory than their younger counterparts. They make more connections because of the vast experiences that they have gone through. Reasoning skills also improve as people age. However, seniors may sometimes lose the dots, said Taylor. But that’s just temporary because people never really reach the maximum capacity of their brain.
Older Minds as Innovators
According to Dr Small, seniors tend to be more creative. He explained that this is probably because they tend to be mindful of the things they currently have, instead of thinking how to make things better in the future. The older brain is resilient and can be stimulated to innovate, said Dr Small. He suggests encouraging older people to contribute to the creative industry because they have something great to offer. To retain their mental prowess, Taylor recommends keeping the brain and body active. This includes taking new challenges, learning new things, listening to different points of view, and developing the ability to accept differences.