Are you unable to concentrate, juggle multiple task and focus on long-term goals as well as you used to? It might be because your brain is old. Well, kind of.
According to a new study that researchers at Simon Fraser University in Canada conducted, mental processes (such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity and thinking) start slowing down after 24 years of age.
The 3,305 volunteers aged 16 years to 44 years played a real-time game that approximated everyday real-world situations that test our cognitive abilities.
BUT THERE’S GOOD NEWS.
As cognitive speed slows, the brain makes up for it by relying on mental shortcuts and experience. It eliminates extraneous information and pares down incoming information to just core nuggets of relevant material.
So while we may get slower, we might also be getting smarter.