This Sunday I’ll be 54 years old, which doesn’t make me old per se, but probably makes me older than you and DEFINITELY makes me old for a guy with three sons aged four-and-a-half, two-and-a-half, and eight months.  Do the math and you’ll see that I will be 76 years old when the youngest graduates from college – that is IF he can do it in four years.

So I came to the conclusion a couple years ago that for all practical purposes I will never be able to retire.  This turns out to be not in the least a gloomy proposition but is actually rather freeing, since it means I don’t have to PLAN for retirement, either.  Short of having no plan at all, mine is very simple: buy a lot of term life insurance and work until I die.  That’s the downside.  The upside is I don’t have to save for retirement and can buy lots of toys.

The only problem with this every-day’s-a-play-day scenario is that I am turning 54, damn it, and parts of me don’t work nearly as well as they used to.  Not THOSE parts (notice the three kids, please): I’m referring to my brain.

For a guy who lives by his wits to realize he’s progressively losing his wits is a frightening thing.  How am I going to be able to pay all that college tuition 20 years from now if I can’t even remember my name?  It’s not that bad yet, but I can see clear evidence that I don’t remember things as well as I used to.  Both short- and long-term memory are affected.  I don’t think it is Alzheimers (there is none of that in my immediate family, though plenty of orneriness).  It’s just old age.

Or to put it more precisely, it is my brain becoming less plastic.

Here’s part of what Wikipedia has to say on the subject: “Neuroplasticity (variously referred to as brain plasticity or cortical plasticity) refers to the changes that occur in the organization of the brain, and in particular changes that occur to the location of specific information processing functions, as a result of the effect of learning and experience.”

MRI studies show that as we age our brains become less plastic.  This is not the crud that builds-up with Alzheimers, but rather an artifact of our brains being less challenged over time and, as a result, ultimately less up to a challenge, as I have noticed.  

It’s probably good that I write for a living because it works my brain a bit, but from my experience I decided my brain wasn’t being worked enough.  What was I to do?

Better  brain nutrition could be part of the answer, so I did some reading and added folic acid, melatonin and (just a little) lithium on top of my multivitamin with extra C and CoEnzyme Q10.  But vitamins alone won’t do it: my brain won’t improve without proper exercise.

Short of writing a book or trying to win “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” I hoped to find quite specific brain exercises, and there turn out to be many.  A little more research led my $395 and me to San Francisco-based Posit Science, authors of The Brain Fitness Program.  The founder of Posit is a neurologist from the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center and their work appears to be based on solid research.

The Brain Fitness Program measures your cognitive age, then runs you through a bunch of exercises that involve listening with headphones, then measures your cognitive age again to see any improvement.  That sounds easy but the bad news is there are a total of 40 lessons and they are each ONE HOUR LONG.

Forty hours to a more youthful brain really isn’t that much, but I expected it to go faster, frankly.  But it wasn’t unpleasant.  Now the part you probably wanted to know: my cognitive age started at 49 and after 40 hours of training dropped to 41.  This is a good result, but less than the average decrease of 10 years.  Posit credits that to my starting out a little younger (my brain, that is) than I really am.

The bottom line for me is that I feel sharper.  Call it a placebo if you like, but I think it works.  And, son-of-a-gun, I’m even writing a book, which I never expected to do again, so maybe my brain IS younger (or stupider, depending on the quality of the book).

If $395 is too much money for your brain, a similar program of mainly visual exercises called Brain Age is available for the Nintendo DS portable game platform and the Nintendo Wii.  I haven’t tried it, but Brain Age costs under $20 at Wal-Mart so the whole investment including the game player is less than half the cost of the Brain Fitness Program.

Maybe I’m not so smart after all.

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This Sunday I’ll be 54 years old, which doesn’t make me old per se, but probably makes me older than you and DEFINITELY makes me old for a guy with three sons aged four-and-a-half, two-and-a-half, and eight months.  Do the math and you’ll see that I will be 76 years old when the youngest graduates from college – that is IF he can do it in four years.

So I came to the conclusion a couple years ago that for all practical purposes I will never be able to retire.  This turns out to be not in the least a gloomy proposition but is actually rather freeing, since it means I don’t have to PLAN for retirement, either.  Short of having no plan at all, mine is very simple: buy a lot of term life insurance and work until I die.  That’s the downside.  The upside is I don’t have to save for retirement and can buy lots of toys.

The only problem with this every-day’s-a-play-day scenario is that I am turning 54, damn it, and parts of me don’t work nearly as well as they used to.  Not THOSE parts (notice the three kids, please): I’m referring to my brain.

For a guy who lives by his wits to realize he’s progressively losing his wits is a frightening thing.  How am I going to be able to pay all that college tuition 20 years from now if I can’t even remember my name?  It’s not that bad yet, but I can see clear evidence that I don’t remember things as well as I used to.  Both short- and long-term memory are affected.  I don’t think it is Alzheimers (there is none of that in my immediate family, though plenty of orneriness).  It’s just old age.

Or to put it more precisely, it is my brain becoming less plastic.

Here’s part of what Wikipedia has to say on the subject: “Neuroplasticity (variously referred to as brain plasticity or cortical plasticity) refers to the changes that occur in the organization of the brain, and in particular changes that occur to the location of specific information processing functions, as a result of the effect of learning and experience.”

MRI studies show that as we age our brains become less plastic.  This is not the crud that builds-up with Alzheimers, but rather an artifact of our brains being less challenged over time and, as a result, ultimately less up to a challenge, as I have noticed.  

It’s probably good that I write for a living because it works my brain a bit, but from my experience I decided my brain wasn’t being worked enough.  What was I to do?

Better  brain nutrition could be part of the answer, so I did some reading and added folic acid, melatonin and (just a little) lithium on top of my multivitamin with extra C and CoEnzyme Q10.  But vitamins alone won’t do it: my brain won’t improve without proper exercise.

Short of writing a book or trying to win “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” I hoped to find quite specific brain exercises, and there turn out to be many.  A little more research led my $395 and me to San Francisco-based Posit Science, authors of The Brain Fitness Program.  The founder of Posit is a neurologist from the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center and their work appears to be based on solid research.

The Brain Fitness Program measures your cognitive age, then runs you through a bunch of exercises that involve listening with headphones, then measures your cognitive age again to see any improvement.  That sounds easy but the bad news is there are a total of 40 lessons and they are each ONE HOUR LONG.

Forty hours to a more youthful brain really isn’t that much, but I expected it to go faster, frankly.  But it wasn’t unpleasant.  Now the part you probably wanted to know: my cognitive age started at 49 and after 40 hours of training dropped to 41.  This is a good result, but less than the average decrease of 10 years.  Posit credits that to my starting out a little younger (my brain, that is) than I really am.

The bottom line for me is that I feel sharper.  Call it a placebo if you like, but I think it works.  And, son-of-a-gun, I’m even writing a book, which I never expected to do again, so maybe my brain IS younger (or stupider, depending on the quality of the book).

If $395 is too much money for your brain, a similar program of mainly visual exercises called Brain Age is available for the Nintendo DS portable game platform and the Nintendo Wii.  I haven’t tried it, but Brain Age costs under $20 at Wal-Mart so the whole investment including the game player is less than half the cost of the Brain Fitness Program.

Maybe I’m not so smart after all.

Share This

This Sunday I‚Äôll be 54 years old, which doesn‚Äôt make me old per se, but probably makes me older than you and DEFINITELY makes me old for a guy with three sons aged four-and-a-half, two-and-a-half, and eight months.  Do the math and you‚Äôll see that I will be 76 years old when the youngest graduates from college ‚Äì that is IF he can do it in four years.

So I came to the conclusion a couple years ago that for all practical purposes I will never be able to retire.  This turns out to be not in the least a gloomy proposition but is actually rather freeing, since it means I don‚Äôt have to PLAN for retirement, either.  Short of having no plan at all, mine is very simple: buy a lot of term life insurance and work until I die.  That‚Äôs the downside.  The upside is I don‚Äôt have to save for retirement and can buy lots of toys.

The only problem with this every-day‚Äôs-a-play-day scenario is that I am turning 54, damn it, and parts of me don‚Äôt work nearly as well as they used to.  Not THOSE parts (notice the three kids, please): I‚Äôm referring to my brain.

For a guy who lives by his wits to realize he‚Äôs progressively losing his wits is a frightening thing.  How am I going to be able to pay all that college tuition 20 years from now if I can‚Äôt even remember my name?  It‚Äôs not that bad yet, but I can see clear evidence that I don‚Äôt remember things as well as I used to.  Both short- and long-term memory are affected.  I don‚Äôt think it is Alzheimers (there is none of that in my immediate family, though plenty of orneriness).  It‚Äôs just old age.

Or to put it more precisely, it is my brain becoming less plastic.

Here’s part of what Wikipedia has to say on the subject: “Neuroplasticity (variously referred to as brain plasticity or cortical plasticity) refers to the changes that occur in the organization of the brain, and in particular changes that occur to the location of specific information processing functions, as a result of the effect of learning and experience.”

MRI studies show that as we age our brains become less plastic.  This is not the crud that builds-up with Alzheimers, but rather an artifact of our brains being less challenged over time and, as a result, ultimately less up to a challenge, as I have noticed.  

It‚Äôs probably good that I write for a living because it works my brain a bit, but from my experience I decided my brain wasn‚Äôt being worked enough.  What was I to do?

Better  brain nutrition could be part of the answer, so I did some reading and added folic acid, melatonin and (just a little) lithium on top of my multivitamin with extra C and CoEnzyme Q10.  But vitamins alone won‚Äôt do it: my brain won‚Äôt improve without proper exercise.

Short of writing a book or trying to win ‚ÄúWho Wants to Be a Millionaire?‚Äù I hoped to find quite specific brain exercises, and there turn out to be many.  A little more research led my $395 and me to San Francisco-based Posit Science, authors of The Brain Fitness Program.  The founder of Posit is a neurologist from the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center and their work appears to be based on solid research.

The Brain Fitness Program measures your cognitive age, then runs you through a bunch of exercises that involve listening with headphones, then measures your cognitive age again to see any improvement.  That sounds easy but the bad news is there are a total of 40 lessons and they are each ONE HOUR LONG.

Forty hours to a more youthful brain really isn‚Äôt that much, but I expected it to go faster, frankly.  But it wasn‚Äôt unpleasant.  Now the part you probably wanted to know: my cognitive age started at 49 and after 40 hours of training dropped to 41.  This is a good result, but less than the average decrease of 10 years.  Posit credits that to my starting out a little younger (my brain, that is) than I really am.

The bottom line for me is that I feel sharper.  Call it a placebo if you like, but I think it works.  And, son-of-a-gun, I‚Äôm even writing a book, which I never expected to do again, so maybe my brain IS younger (or stupider, depending on the quality of the book).

If $395 is too much money for your brain, a similar program of mainly visual exercises called Brain Age is available for the Nintendo DS portable game platform and the Nintendo Wii.  I haven‚Äôt tried it, but Brain Age costs under $20 at Wal-Mart so the whole investment including the game player is less than half the cost of the Brain Fitness Program.

Maybe I’m not so smart after all.

Share This

If you were not at TECHCocktail last night this video shows you the type of conversation you might have missed. This is an interview with Jeff Pulver that we shot at TECHCocktail 2. The audio unfortunately is not the best but the information in it is very good.