5 ms·

According to the chart, the only thing that increases in late adulthood is ventricular volume. Interesting. "An increase in ventricle size is associated with d

• deleted 4y ago
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• alar44 4y ago
  Sorry, who thinks your brain gets better as it ages and why would anyone think that?
  • throwamon 4y ago
    Maybe people whose brain is getting worse so they can't think straight?
  • shrimp_emoji 4y ago
    What if it's getting better because it's fitting reality more tightly by cutting off slack neurons? :) According to the chart there, your largest gray matter volume is at 6 and greatest cortical thickness is between 1 and 6. I'll leave it to you to decide whether your brain is better now than at 6. (Assuming you're reading this while being significantly older than 6.)
    • alar44 4y ago
      "Well ya see, Norm, it’s like this… A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That’s why you always feel smarter after a few beers.” -Cliff Clavin
      • nosianu 4y ago
        You compare an effect of a randomly applied poison to one done by the brain itself acting specifically (the early age pruning). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synaptic_pruning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synaptic_pruning In any case, I see no differentiation in the previous comments between the cells, types of cells - neurons being only one type in the brain - and connections. Axons of neurons are quite substantial and are a large part of the brain mass, it isn't only about neurons at all. Glial cells are not only just "support" either. Example: https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2019/07/29/frustrated-fish-reveal-glias-computational-role-in-motivated-behavior/ https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2019/07/29/frustrated-fish-... -- or https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2894949/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2894949/
        • scyzoryk_xyz 4y ago
          It’s a quote from the beer drinking postal worker character of the 70’s American TV Show “Cheers”…
  • cwkoss 4y ago
    Our president is 79 and many members of our congress are over 80 years old
    • mdp2021 4y ago
      When reasoning, you have to lay out all the assumptions. Not even ceteris paribus they would be better at 40, before many further decades of cultivation and experience.
    • armchairhacker 4y ago
      Who thinks members of congress are smart?
      • hotpotamus 4y ago
        What if they are smart and they're getting exactly what they want? Look at Paul Ryan who accomplished all he set out to do so he retired to a sinecure post at Fox News that pays millions. I'd hardly call him a fool.
  • mdp2021 4y ago
    Not physically, but the informational content and structure. Supposedly you get wiser and expert. And in fact, this «putting to rest» thing is nonsense, unless somebody really believed that the brain gets younger with age. The real point is about how heavily or how little degeneration impacts proficiency.
    • throwaway09223 4y ago
      > Supposedly you get wiser and expert. Well, you do. I'm over the hill and I'm objectively more capable than I was in my 20s. It's possible for this to be true despite declining cognition. My abilities differ. In my 20s I relied on sheer problem solving ability. I could focus for days on a problem. I think I could better visualize specifics and more reliably remember. Wisdom is different. Later in life I find I'm more able to navigate deeper social issues, more capable of seeing bigger picture patterns. I manage myself better, and these higher order changes result in my getting a lot more done than when I was younger. There's much more to real world brain performance than certain narrow measures of technical capability.
    • agumonkey 4y ago
      I think there's a loss of basic stimulation while a finer perception of abstraction. This low stimulation state increase degradation at unhealthy rates. I assume people doing subtle physical and mental activities (danse, music, craft) can maintain both.
    • mrleinad 4y ago
      Absolutely subjective layman opinion here, but regardless of what decay the brain may experience, I think it's likely that experience provides a huge counterbalance to it, as you can solve problems faster than before because you have already experienced them, or can relate them to something else.
• tsol 4y ago
  Who said brain size has anything to do with performance?
  • eimrine 4y ago
    At least it works with microprocessors, at least if to measure a microprocessor's size in transistors.