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by Ken Budd
Updated July 8, 2022
Forty may be the new 30 for your brain. In AARP’s Brain Health Research Study, people ages 69 to 75 said they think that the brain peaks at 40. By middle age, our brains excel at reasoning and using experience to reach strong conclusions, says David S. Knopman, M.D., professor of neurology at the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Mayo Clinic. Emotional intelligence is also strong: The brain’s ability to evaluate people’s emotional states peaks in the 40s and 50s, researchers at MIT found.
Around age 45, however, our mental abilities begin to decline, according to a 10-year study in the British Medical Journal. Blood flow diminishes, neural connections shrink, and people often notice “subtle changes in their ability to remember new names or do more than one thing at a time,” the American Psychological Association reports. And while Alzheimer’s disease is rare in people under 50, the biological changes associated with it, such as the development of amyloid plaques, often happen 15 to 20 years before the onset of symptoms, says Jennifer Rose Molano, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. But take heart: Research is finding that what you do now can protect your brain from the buildup of the plaques that can rob you of your memory later.
Here are some strategies that may help keep your brain humming.
Read more articles about how your brain changes through the decades.
• “When Does Cognitive Functioning Peak? The Asynchronous Rise and Fall of Different Cognitive Abilities Across the Life Span,” Psychological Science, March 2015. For this study, the researchers examined results from a range of online IQ and memory tests from nearly 50,000 participants ages 16 to 89. The results showed that cognitive abilities peak at different times in life: short-term memory improves until about age 25 and starts to drop off at age 35; the ability to perceive other people’s emotional states peaks in the 40s or 50; and vocabulary peaks at around age 65. Read a summary of the study. (A fee is required to access the full study.)
• “Timing of onset of cognitive decline: results from Whitehall II prospective cohort study,” BMJ, January 2012. This study examined the cognitive function of 5,198 men and 2,192 women between the ages of 45 and 70 over a period of 10 years. Researchers found all cognitive scores, except vocabulary, declined in all age groups, even those ages 45 to 49, with faster declines in those who were older. Read the full study.
• “Associations Between Midlife Vascular Risk Factors and 25-Year Incident Dementia in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Cohort,” JAMA Neurology, October 2017. In this study, researchers analyzed more than a year of data from 15,744 participants between the ages of 44 and 66. They found evidence that midlife vascular risk factors such as obesity, smoking and diabetes are associated with increased risk of dementia. As a population study, it shows a correlation but does not prove cause and effect. Read the full study.
• “Inflammation-associated declines in cerebral vasoreactivity and cognition in type 2 diabetes,” Neurology, July 2015. In this two-year study, 65 participants took cognitive tests and had their serum inflammatory markers and regional cerebral vasoreactivity measured. The researchers found that participants with type 2 diabetes had diminished vasoreactivity and performed worse on cognitive tests after two years. Read a summary of the study. (A fee is required to access the full study.)
• “Midlife exercise blood pressure, heart rate, and fitness relate to brain volume 2 decades later,” Neurology, April 2016. A total of 1,094 adults participated in this study. Read a summary of the study. (A fee is required to access the full study.)
• “A Metabolic Obesity Profile Is Associated With Decreased Gray Matter Volume in Cognitively Healthy Older Adults,” Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, August 2019. In this study, 748 adults had their body weight, cholesterol levels and other metabolic factors measured and also took cognitive tests and received MRI scans. As a population study, it shows a correlation but does not prove cause and effect. Read the full study.
• “Central obesity and increased risk of dementia more than three decades later,” Neurology, September 2008. In this study, 6,583 adults between the ages of 40 and 45 had their abdominal diameters measured between 1964 and 1973. Researchers analyzed their medical records from approximately 30 years later, looking for diagnoses of dementia. The researchers found an association between central obesity in midlife and an increased risk of dementia later in life, independent of other risk factors such as diabetes. As a population study, it shows a correlation but does not prove cause and effect. Read a summary of the study. (A fee is required to access the full study.)
• “Use It Too Much and Lose It? The Effect of Working Hours on Cognitive Ability,” Melbourne Institute Working Paper No. 7/16, February 2016. In this study, researchers reviewed survey data and cognitive test results of middle-aged and older workers and found that working more than 44 hours per week had a negative impact on cognitive functioning. As a population study, it shows a correlation but does not prove cause and effect. Read the full study.
• “Are vacations good for your health? The 9-year mortality experience after the multiple risk factor intervention trial,” Psychosomatic Medicine, September 2000. In this study, researchers reviewed data from more than 12,000 middle-aged men. As a population study, it shows a correlation but does not prove cause and effect. Read a summary of the study. (A fee is required to access the full study.)
• “Association of volunteering with mental well-being: a lifecourse analysis of a national population-based longitudinal study in the UK,” BMJ Open, September 2016. In this study, 66,343 adults filled out questionnaires about how often they volunteer and their mental well-being. Researchers found an association between volunteering after the age of 40 and better mental well-being. As a population study, it shows a correlation but does not prove cause and effect. Read the full study.
• “The Sleeping Brain: Harnessing the Power of the Glymphatic System through Lifestyle Choices,” Brain Sciences, November 2020. This scientific paper explores the research on the glymphatic system and how it helps to mitigate the risk of Alzheimer’s disease during sleep. Read the full article.