THE GROWN-UP BRAIN

If you think your brain deteriorates as you age, think again!

- JULIE BEUN

LAUGHTER lines, a few grey hairs and those hard-to-lose kilos – along with a frustrating inability to recal l names or what you did last Tuesday – are wellknown signs of middle age.

While memory problems may seem inevitable, new research shows there’s hope for the middle-aged brain, says medical science editor and author Barbara Strauch in her new book, Secrets of the Grown-Up Brain.

We’re living longer, so middle age has become a time to be fit, healthy and active. But our brains seem to be ageing despite that. The older we get, the more frequently things seem to simply vanish from our heads.

Here’s a look at why it happens, how the brain continues to power on as we age, and tips on how to keep your grey matter as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

WHAT CAUSES MEMORY LOSS?

The processing speed of our brains slows down from our twenties onwards – we can lose neurotransmitters and get distracted more easily. The truth is that by midlife most of our brains show some fraying around the edges, and names are often the first edge to go ragged.