Why Does Brain Speed Matter, and What Can I Do to Improve It?

I just saw an article in Scientific American about why brain speed is important, how it decays as we age, and what the effects are on daily life over time. But this is nothing new: we have been talking about brain speed for years! Some highlights from the article include: “Studies suggest that the speed of information processing changes with age… such that our thinking speeds up from childhood to adolescence, maintains a period of relative stability leading up to middle age, and finally, in late middle age and onward, declines slowly but steadily.” “Slowed information processing affects almost every aging adult to some degree, and the line between normal and abnormal is fuzzy. “ While these assertions are certainly true, there is much more to this story. When it comes to brain speed, every millisecond counts. How quickly your brain can process events around you determines how effectively you can react to and remember those events. This has ripple effects on nearly everything you do, like how well you can follow a conversation or remember it, or how fast you react to dangers, surprises, or quickly changing conditions. And yes, your brain speed does indeed decline with age–but the great news is that there is proven evidence that you can you can retrain your brain to speed it up. Our scientists have designed five brain training exercises that specifically target brain speed, and I like to recommend these to everyone who’s interested in i...
Source: On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. - Category: Neurologists Authors: Tags: Aging and the Brain Brain Fitness Brain Plasticity BrainHQ Language Development Source Type: blogs