YOUR BRAIN IN YOUR SENIOR YEARS
July 6, 2018
The good news: You’re much wiser than your 50-year old self. Reality check: Doing math on the fly doesn’t come quite as easily. AARP claims to stay smart your brain rewires… it links areas on the right and the left hemispheres to remember names now. And it processes emotions through the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala (another trick younger brains don’t do as well), so you’re less bothered by negative stuff and get a bigger boost from positive experiences. Your brain grows wiser… In one study, people in their 60s tested higher in their ability to compromise, maintain perspective and be flexible than young or middle-aged people did. Yes you’re losing neurons… Then again, you’ve been losing them at a rate of about 25,000 a day since your 20s. Synapses begin to thin out and mental processing speed and the ability to do math quickly in your head are not what they used to be. And all that sofa time is not helping… People in their 60s watch more than three hours of TV a day, compared with two hours that teenagers watch. But EXERCISE can keep your mind vital. Staying active may prevent shrinkage of the hippocampus in those at increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease. EXERCISE also lowers your chances for dementia by nearly 30 percent! At Carolina Bay we have no shortage of opportunities to keep your mind vital through exercise. From water aerobics to yoga and balance classes, exercise programs on our Keiser pneumatic equipment and line dancing on Fridays, we meet both your physical but more importantly your mental needs.