Cognition declines with age, but mental well-being may increase

While it’s generally known cognitive function declines with age, new research suggests mental well-being may increase as people grow older.  

A study published in Psychology and Aging found healthy older adults displayed greater mental well-being but worse cognitive performance than younger adults. Researchers from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine sampled a total of 62 healthy younger adults in their 20s and 54 healthy older adults over the age of 60. 

Participants were surveyed on symptoms of anxiety, depression, loneliness and overall mental well-being and were also tasked with performing a series of “cognitively demanding” tasks while their brain activity was measured using electroencephalography (EEG). 

Results showed young adults experienced higher rates of anxiety, depression and loneliness compared to adults over the age of 60. Older adults showed higher levels of well-being but did worse in performing the cognition tests. 

According to the study, EEG recordings among older adults showed greater activity in the anterior parts of the brain’s default mode network during cognition tests. This part of the brain is more active during passive tasks, such as thinking about the future and daydreaming, and is typically suppressed during tasks demanding focused external attention. 

“The default mode network is useful in other contexts, helping us process the past and imagine the future, but it’s distracting when you’re trying to focus on the present to tackle a demanding task with speed and accuracy,” Jyoti Mishra, senior author of the study and associate professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine, said in a statement. 

Meanwhile, high cognitive scores among young participants were associated with greater activity in part of the brain’s executive control system, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. But among older adults, those with higher cognitive performances showed increased activity in an area of the brain associated with attention and avoiding distractions, the inferior frontal cortex. Researchers note the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex degrades with aging, suggesting the inferior frontal cortex may pick up the slack for older adults when concentrating on a task. 

“We tend to think of people in their twenties as being at their peak cognitive performance, but it is also a very stressful time in their lives, so when it comes to mental well-being, there may be lessons to be learned from older adults and their brains,” Mishra added. 

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