We often think of cognitive decline going hand-in-hand with aging and believe that fading memory is a sign of failing cognition. However, new research suggests that the human brain changes as we age to prioritize wisdom over details. Looking at both molecular biology and neuroimaging, a team from the Univ. of Arizona found that changes in cognition aren’t a sign of decline but a natural phase of human development.

This research may explain why older people are so good at storytelling, teaching, mentoring and other areas when they share their insights with young people.

“Our framework suggests that aging may shift cognition toward integrating experience and extracting its broader meaning (rather than remembering every last detail),” said the study’s coauthor Prof. Fabian-Xosé Fernandez.

Older people’s brains use their frontal cortex more and their hippocampus less. The frontal cortex is where the overall meaning and impact of an experience is stored in the brain, and the details are kept in the hippocampus. Young people’s brains are weighted in the opposite direction. They remember every detail of a situation but don’t draw broader meaning from it.

Younger brains collect a lot of information, but don’t have a knowledge base to understand the world as a whole. Older brains can quickly see recurring patterns and use previous experiences to understand new situations. The brain’s priorities shift as a person’s needs do throughout their lifetime.

The researchers stress that their theory doesn’t mean that memory difficulties should be dismissed as a useful and natural progression. They’re saying the brain changes its priorities. In normal aging, the brain shifts to a greater reliance on the frontal cortex. In Alzheimer’s, proteins interfere with how the brain should be functioning. The researchers are not saying that Alzheimer’s and dementia are things a person should ignore. If you or a loved one are struggling with memory in a way that impacts the quality of your everyday life, that’s not something to dismiss as normal aging.  

Trying to get older people’s brains to function like younger people’s brains and focusing on small details may not be how nature intends for them to behave. Instead, we should embrace how older members of society can share their wisdom.

“The way I look at it is that you’ve got someone with a brain that has been active for several decades and has seen a lot,” said Prof. Fernandez. “There is tremendous value there, and we don’t do a good job of unlocking it.”

Banner image: Ron Lach via Pexels