{"id":2821,"date":"2010-01-03T00:54:37","date_gmt":"2010-01-03T05:54:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/?p=2821"},"modified":"2010-01-03T00:54:37","modified_gmt":"2010-01-03T05:54:37","slug":"how-to-train-the-aging-brain-nyt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/2010\/01\/03\/how-to-train-the-aging-brain-nyt\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Train The Aging Brain (NYT)"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the 3 January 2010 issue of the New York Times, Barbara Strauch gives hope to us dottering oldsters in How To Train The Aging Brain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Indeed, aging brains, even in the middle years, fall into what\u2019s called the default mode, during which the mind wanders off and begin daydreaming. Given all this, the question arises, can an old brain learn, and then remember what it learns? Put another way, is this a brain that should be in school?<\/p>\n

As it happens, yes. While it\u2019s tempting to focus on the flaws in older brains, that inducement overlooks how capable they\u2019ve become. Over the past several years, scientists have looked deeper into how brains age and confirmed that they continue to develop through and beyond middle age. (…) What is stuffed into your head may not have vanished but has simply been squirreled away in the folds of your neurons.<\/p>\n[Pomona College psychology professor Deborah M.] Burke has done research on \u201ctots,\u201d those tip-of-the-tongue times when you know something but can\u2019t quite call it to mind. Dr. Burke\u2019s research shows that such incidents increase in part because neural connections, which receive, process and transmit information, can weaken with disuse or age. But she also finds that if you are primed with sounds that are close to those you\u2019re trying to remember, (…) suddenly the lost name will pop into mind. The similarity in sounds can jump-start a limp brain connection.<\/p>\n

Recently, researchers have found even more positive news. The brain, as it traverses middle age, gets better at recognizing the central idea, the big picture. If kept in good shape, the brain can continue to build pathways that help its owner recognize patterns and, as a consequence, see significance and even solutions much faster than a young person can. The trick is finding ways to keep brain connections in good condition and to grow more of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe brain is plastic and continues to change, not in getting bigger but allowing for greater complexity and deeper understanding,\u201d says Kathleen Taylor, a professor at St. Mary\u2019s College of California. (…) Educators say that, for adults, one way to nudge neurons in the right direction is to challenge the very assumptions they have worked so hard to accumulate while young<\/em>. With a brain already full of well-connected pathways, adult learners should \u201cjiggle their synapses a bit\u201d by confronting thoughts that are contrary to their own<\/em>, says Dr. Taylor.<\/p>\n

Teaching new facts should not be the focus of adult education, she says. Instead, continued brain development and a richer form of learning may require that you \u201cbump up against people and ideas\u201d that are different. In a history class, that might mean reading multiple viewpoints, and then prying open brain networks by reflecting on how what was learned has changed your view of the world<\/em>. \u201cThere\u2019s a place for information,\u201d Dr. Taylor says. \u201cWe need to know stuff. But we need to move beyond that and challenge our perception of the world. If you always hang around with those you agree with and read things that agree with what you already know, you\u2019re not going to wrestle with your established brain connections.\u201d Such stretching is exactly what scientists say best keeps a brain in tune: get out of the comfort zone to push and nourish your brain.<\/p>\n

Jack Mezirow, a professor emeritus at Columbia Teachers College, has proposed that adults learn best if presented with what he calls a \u201cdisorienting dilemma,\u201d or something that \u201chelps you critically reflect on the assumptions you\u2019ve acquired.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-RichardH<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the 3 January 2010 issue of the New York Times, Barbara Strauch gives hope to us dottering oldsters in How To Train The Aging Brain. Indeed, aging brains, even in the middle years, fall into what\u2019s called the default mode, during which the mind wanders off and begin daydreaming. Given all this, the question […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[167],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-richardhsposts","7":"czr-hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2821"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2822,"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2821\/revisions\/2822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}