Do you feel like you are getting dumber with age?

[noisyturtle]

I started noticing this in my late 20's, a mild but steady decline in my memory and ability to use adaptive thinking. As I type this now I am struggling to pull the correct words from my withered brain. Over the last decade, and especially the past 3 years, I have noticed myself getting dumber and dumber. Despite brain training and beginning a regiment of supplements, my memory and 'constructive thinking' (I literally cannot think of the correct term right now) are fleeting so fast I fear 10 years from now I'll just be a dribbling fool if this rate continues.

Has anyone else experienced intelligence decay? How do you combat this? Is it even real, or has my brain just atrophied not being in a stimulating educational environment?

[tp4tissue]

it's dat cholesterol, it clogs the brain's micro-vasculature. slows down ur processor speed.

[catamscott]

three months from turning 27, and i've been noticing the same thing. most unnerving to me has been genuinely mixing up their/there/they're and making lots of spelling mistakes in general. my guess is it's because i don't do a lot of writing for my job, but overall i do just feel a lot less sharp than i used to be. it's pretty disconcerting, but i've more or less resigned myself to a gradual mental decline

[Leslieann]

Use it or lose it.

If you stop learning you forget how to learn, it sounds stupid but it seems to happen. The other thing is simply as you age there is less to learn. When you were younger, everything was new and interesting, that isn't the case as you settle into life and a job, which is right about your age. You settle in and get comfortable.  When was the last time you learned something truly new that took you outside your comfort zone? Don't get complacent.

Don't play brain games games, don't just get a hobby, get a hobby that forces you to learn. Learn cad, 3d printing, model rocketry, programming, art, magic, pottery, music, acting, comedy, cycling... anything that challenges you and requires actual learning a skill, be it technical, physical or artistic. While not a great time to do so at the moment, local hacker spaces and makerspaces are a great place to get your creative juices flowing.

[kurplop]

Don't play brain games games, don't just get a hobby, get a hobby that forces you to learn. Learn cad, 3d printing, model rocketry, programming, art, magic, pottery, music, acting, comedy, cycling... anything that challenges you and requires actual learning a skill, be it technical, physical or artistic. While not a great time to do so at the moment, local hacker spaces and makerspaces are a great place to get your creative juices flowing.

Good advice. Also, don’t forget physical exercise. The brain depends on the body’s overall health to function properly.

[fohat.digs]

When I stop smoking for a few days I can feel my brain 'waking up.'

Need I say more?

[tp4tissue]

Don't play brain games games, don't just get a hobby, get a hobby that forces you to learn. Learn cad, 3d printing, model rocketry, programming, art, magic, pottery, music, acting, comedy, cycling... anything that challenges you and requires actual learning a skill, be it technical, physical or artistic. While not a great time to do so at the moment, local hacker spaces and makerspaces are a great place to get your creative juices flowing.

Good advice. Also, don’t forget physical exercise. The brain depends on the body’s overall health to function properly.

Also Veggggies.

[Findecanor]

There is an old idea that the brain would stop developing after a certain age, but that has been debunked. As others have said, it is just because people tend to be complacent and stop learning new things.

Also Veggggies.

I read somewhere that the brain wants fats. Not a lot, but a large variety of fats... I dunno if this is correct though.

[tp4tissue]

I read somewhere that the brain wants fats. Not a lot, but a large variety of fats... I dunno if this is correct though.

The brain burns 100% glucose. It does not use any other energy source.

High fat consumption is the leading cause of brain deterioration due to higher oxidative stress, AND clogging of its microvasculature. Cholesterol clog your Big heart arteries, it clogs the small ones in the rest of your body just as well and more easily.

What this does is it leads to Micro-Strokes throughout a victim's lifespan, visible under MRI as tiny white spots, ultimately culminating in Alzheimer/Parkinson like consequences. It is very likely the the vast majority of modern diagnosis of that spectrum of diseases is the direct result of the Standard Western high Fat diet, which ranges from 30-50% calories from fats.

[chyros]

Not dumber, no. But I can't play shooter games like I used to anymore xD .

[phinix]

Yep, we all feel the same with age:)
Like Leslie described it perfectly, you just learn less and less and get comfortable with everything so the you won't need to learn much.
If you don't stimulate your brain that often as used to when being young, it gets lazy:)
With age I noticed making more mistakes, forgetting words in simple conversation, even calling things differently, like talking about bath instead of fridge kinda thing
Also, weird thing is it takes more to actually memorise things - like I read whole course of something for about a month, then after another month I cannot remember what I learnt
My job/life is not stimulating me enough to keep learning, memorising things.
Or am I just being more lazy and fed up with everything? 

[jamster]

Has anyone else experienced intelligence decay? How do you combat this? Is it even real, or has my brain just atrophied not being in a stimulating educational environment?

Just wait till you guys have kids

[Leslieann]

My job/life is not stimulating me enough to keep learning, memorising things.
Or am I just being more lazy and fed up with everything? 

Probably have other things going on.
When you were younger it was all about the book, today you probably have a movie going, music, kids running around, cell phone going off etc... Life interrupts your concentration.

You also aren't quite the sponge you once were.

[suicidal_orange]

I'm doing pretty well having started a new job from zero knowledge a couple of years back and taken up cycling at the same time, now I'm competent but still learning most days at work and have taken everything on the bike off except the bottom bracket (where the pedal legs attach to the frame)

Communication has never been a strength but I lack the motivation to do anything about it, as such no relationships and no risk of children messing with my sleep/competence or brainrotting cartoons.

[iri]

Things that OP should do but won't:

* stop smoking weed, it makes you dumber

* engage in vigorous aerobic exercise, it promotes adult neurogenesis

* learn a new skill, preferably mastering a musical instrument

* eat healthy

[Sintpinty]

Nah i was always stupid in the first place

[Shapey Fiend]

I feel much smarter now I'm older tbh. I don't waste my energy or get distracted nearly as much. I've worked out what I want to do, mostly.

My memory is weird I remember a lot of stuff with total clarity. Things like names I can never remember.

My guess in this instance is it's just lack of sleep perhaps. Turning off phone notifications is also good I think we don't give our brains enough downtime away from computers and phones these days which can undermine your concentration. I'm trying not to use computers except for work.

This could also be Covid related. Maybe you're not talking to people as much which helps order your thoughts.

[Crabby]

No I actually feel smarter in my mid 20s. When I was younger I was more emotionally driven, the older I get the more I can be goal oriented and spend time learning things.

[fohat.digs]

When I was younger I was more emotionally driven

As an old man, I know a lot more than I used to, and, more importantly, I understand a lot more about how the world works. And that includes both people and things.

The downside is that my memory is not what it once was, particularly short-term memory. I suppose that it parallels my eyesight - when I was younger I was nearsighted and had exceptionally good close-up vision but needed glasses to drive. Today, my distance vision is normal but I need my reading glasses ....

[tp4tissue]

No I actually feel smarter in my mid 20s. When I was younger I was more emotionally driven, the older I get the more I can be goal oriented and spend time learning things.

wait til you hit 30s,40s, Instant-Derp

[iri]

Today, my distance vision is normal but I need my reading glasses ....

Have a lens surgery? My old father had and he doesn't need glasses any more.

[fohat.digs]

No, I am OK, even my reading glasses are less than +2 diopters so I get by easily.

[noisyturtle]

There is a huge difference between being wise and being smart, and being wise is something that can ONLY come with age.
I think younger people just think quicker and take more passionate risks. I miss that impulsive motivating drive that allowed me to pour infinite energy and passion into something. I simply do not have that ability anymore.

[Leslieann]

No I actually feel smarter in my mid 20s. When I was younger I was more emotionally driven, the older I get the more I can be goal oriented and spend time learning things.

wait til you hit 30s,40s, Instant-Derp

This depends on the person... Their genes as well as lifestyle (not just food or exercise).

How many Nobel Prize awards go to 20s and 30 somethings? There's a WIDE divide between people who are movers and shakers later in life vs those who sat on a couch and went to sleep, if you stop learning and become a couch potato your brain will go to mush.

It doesn't matter if you're a doctor or a janitor, use it or lose it.

[suicidal_orange]

There is a huge difference between being wise and being smart, and being wise is something that can ONLY come with age.
I think younger people just think quicker and take more passionate risks. I miss that impulsive motivating drive that allowed me to pour infinite energy and passion into something. I simply do not have that ability anymore.

What is wisdom then, by your definition?  Sounds like you think it's having and learning from experience, which definitely does require age.  This is a perfectly acceptable perspective but I would suggest that creative thinking and logic can predict the outcome of an action based on less experience so while a child could not be wise some people will appear wiser at a younger age.

Reardless of age no-one would ever have called me impulsive or passionate, because I'm not.  I use similar logic and creative thinking skills to present what appears as empathy and other 'niceness' socially because that part of my brain has atrophied, if it ever developed in the first place.

[fohat.digs]

What is wisdom then, by your definition?

Psychologists all over the world have pondered and wrestled with this question in an effort to quantify a viable definition of "wisdom" which is the amorphous human quality almost universally valued and honored but particularly hard to define.

Several studies, all over the world, independently settled on the notion of having people indentify other people who they consider to be wise, and then look at personality traits that those people tend to have in common. First they had to tease out prejudices in order to winnow away the reflexive situational tendency to automatically look at educators, religious leaders, community leaders, judges, writers, elders, and/or others. Then they had to try to recognize and understand what internal character qualities "wise" people tended to have in common.

Surprisingly, or maybe not, most of the studies found 3 primary personality traits that "wise" people tend to exhibit:
Open-mindedness
Generosity
Emotional control

Maybe that helps, but it still does not answer (or even actually address) the question of what "wisdom" itself actually is ....

[Kavik]

I have always had trouble with walking into a room and forgetting why I'd entered it, so that is nothing new for me.

I'm not sure if this is new, but, like you, I can hardly think of the right word to describe something. I don't have the best vocabulary, but I do think mine is slightly above average; however, if I can never think of the word I need when I need it, it's really not very good after all.

As far as learning, something I have noticed over the past few years is that I can't stand reading things on a screen. It is much easier for me to digest dense information on a physical page. Maybe it's the layout and presentation (quantized pages are better for judging length of a text rather than one extremely long webpage with a scrollbar), or maybe it is because there's no distraction with a book (no other tabs, no videos, no notifications, etc.). I sometimes feel the same way about playing a videogame on a PC vs a console; the mere fact that distraction is an option is enough to distract me even if I'm not indulging.

[Darthbaggins]

No I actually feel smarter in my mid 20s. When I was younger I was more emotionally driven, the older I get the more I can be goal oriented and spend time learning things.

wait til you hit 30s,40s, Instant-Derp

Lmao, far from the truth but keep telling yourself that.

I personally pursue hobbies/interest that keep me challenged and engaged, that's why I love tech so much as it's constantly evolving/changing and I must learn about the new toys and challenges that are coming up.  Also having to help my son w/ his homework and my step-daughter w/ her AP homework keeps my head firing on all cylinders.  (things have changed in the way that children are taught and I have to adapt to that as well)

[Faceman76]

Has anyone else experienced intelligence decay? How do you combat this? Is it even real, or has my brain just atrophied not being in a stimulating educational environment?

Just wait till you guys have kids

"Baby brain", something I attribute to the lack of sleep. 

If someone is looking to sharpen their thinking, pick up new hobbies, ones that involve critical thinking and creativity.

I've shifted from building PCs, to designing and building speakers and other various audio components, and now to furniture and keyboards.  Add in some various programming, networking, QA testing and I feel just as sharp now as I did in my 20's and 30's. 

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