Recommended Reading: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind

I know I’m not alone in often forgetting the name of a close friend, the book I just finished or a film I recently saw.  It’s usually on the tip of my tongue and takes a minute (or 10) for my brain to dislodge this bit of information.  Is this forgetfulness a normal part of aging?  The result of  hormonal changes? Or  are we all on a slow journey to dementia?  That’s what I wanted to know when I picked up Barbara Strauch’s terrific book,  The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind in which she presents the latest research to explain how our brains work and change with age.

In her view, the middle-aged mind is vastly under-estimated and that memory function is actually “humming along nicely”  at this stage of life.  What does get a little dicey though is Episodic Memory, or our ability to recollect a recent event such a book we’ve recently read or a breakfast we just ate. (Sound familiar?) The problem is one of retrieval, not storage, she explains. “The piece of information is there, but it’s like trying to find the right book in a well-stocked library.”  Often, the information we were trying to recall finally emerges out of nowhere – a phenomenon that neuroscientists refer to as “pop-ups,” which occur more frequently with age.

Distraction is another consequence of changes in the middle-aged brain.  If you’re constantly looking for your keys or cell phone, or forget why you went into the kitchen with such purpose, then you understand the problem.  Strauch explains that as we age, the crucial frontal lobe region, the area of the brain that we use to concentrate, takes a back seat to the lower area of the brain called the “default mode,” which we use for daydreaming:  Our ability to switch off the default mode starts to wane  and thus, our ability to tune out irrelevant material is reduced.

Strauch offers a brief section on estrogen’s effects quoting Roberta Diaz Brinton Ph.D, a neuropharmacologist at the Unviersity of Southern California.”There’s a spectrum of responses that probably depends on how estrogen-dependent a a woman is. Some women get confused  and unfocused and are generally miserable until brain chemicals stabilize. Others say: ‘Hey, what’s the big deal?’

If you’re experiencing brain fog, forgetfulness, and occasional memory lapses and wondering (or worrying) if it’s just you, then this book is for you.  You’ll rest easier understanding what’s happening to our brains as we age and what to expect in the future.

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