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Now, this sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Indeed, this may even seem to contradict the multiple studies on cognitive decline I have reported on in these Quick Hits or in leading brains Review. Yes, cognitive decline does happen but in specific areas such as short-term or long-term memory or in complex calculations (which require said short-term memory). I have also reported on how the older brains get wiser and change processing for different benefits, in contrast to younger brains.
However, this study, recently out, seems to fly against what we assume or know — the researchers crunched data from a massive dataset with over a million participants, yes, you read that correctly, over a million, performing cognitive tasks. What they found is that response times between the ages of 20 and 60 barely changed (not necessarily other performance metrics). This suggest that our cognitive speed, speed in responding, therefore does not decline, as most of us assume. Great news!
But after 60 it does decline — you can’t hold it up forever. So, I’ve got seven years left of high cognitive speed…
References:
Mischa von Krause, Stefan T. Radev, Andreas Voss.
Mental speed is high until age 60 as revealed by analysis of over a million participants.
Nature Human Behaviour, 2022;
DOI: 10.1038/s41562–021–01282–7
Andy publishes a quick hit every weekday on all things the brain, behaviour, and business. Please follow to receive your daily dose. Summary here, full list here.
Andy is author of leading brains Review a monthly e-magazine on all things the brain, behaviour, and business.
