Posted by Joe Rongo on Fri, Jan 08, 2010 @ 11:41 PM
The problem is, as much as I enjoy books, I don’t really
remember reading any of them. Certainly I know the main points. But
didn’t I, after underlining all those interesting parts, retain
anything else? It’s maddening and, sorry to say, not all that unusual
for a brain at middle age: I don’t just forget whole books, but movies
I just saw, breakfasts I just ate, and the names, oh, the names are
awful. Who are you?
Brains in
middle age, which, with increased life spans, now stretches from the
40s to late 60s, also get more easily distracted. Start boiling water
for pasta, go answer the doorbell and — whoosh — all thoughts of
boiling water disappear. Indeed, aging brains, even in the middle
years, fall into what’s called the default mode, during which the mind
wanders off and begin daydreaming.
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