Does your thinking slow down with age?

As you age, your brain goes through changes that can slow down your thinking: It loses volume, the cortex becomes thinner, the myelin sheath surrounding the fibers of your neurons begins to degrade, and your brain receptors don’t fire as quickly.

Do you think differently when you get older?

One of the most robust findings by psychologists is that although our reasoning ability declines with age, our knowledge and experience – our wisdom – increases, which can help to compensate: By age 70 this loss equates to roughly 30 IQ points.

Is brain shrinkage normal with age?

The brain’s overall size begins to shrink when you’re in your 30s or 40s, and the rate of shrinkage increases once you reach age 60. Brain shrinkage doesn’t happen to all areas of the brain at once. Some areas shrink more and faster than others, and brain shrinkage is likely to get more severe as you get older.

What are the symptoms of brain shrinkage?

Symptoms of localized or focal atrophy might include:

• Difficulty standing upright.
• Loss of coordination.
• Partial paralysis.
• Absence of physical sensation in certain parts of the body.
• Double or unfocused vision.
• Difficulties speaking or understanding speech (aphasia).

Do you know what happens to your body when you age?

You know that aging will likely cause wrinkles and gray hair. But do you know how aging will affect your teeth, heart and sexuality? Find out what changes to expect as you continue aging — and how to promote good health at any age.

Why am I getting less sleep as I get older?

You also dream less as you age, as less of your sleep time is devoted to REM sleep. The combination of these factors could make you feel like you’ve had less sleep, even if your total sleep time hasn’t changed.

Do you get happier as you age?

By age 75, it’s one in two. You get happier. It seems counter-intuitive, but studies show older folks become more content with time. It’s a U-shaped curve. As kids, we generally feel quite good about life, but that sense of well-being diminishes with passing years.

What happens to your brain when you get older?

The neurons no longer fire off information fast enough for the rest of the brain to respond, and new information will not become embedded in memory. Typically, we lose seven to 10 milliseconds — a tenth of a second — of brain speed per decade from age 20 on, which means that aging alone causes us to lose brain cells and processing speed.