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The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind

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Here's news that should be good for all of us humans. As the years go by, and we work at what we do, we grow older and wiser.

Barbara Strauch has written a fascinating and readable book about how our minds age, and how we get better as we get older, a lot older. If you are in your fifties and feel that you know far more about what you are doing now, than you did twenty or even ten years ago, science bears you out. According to The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain, we get smarter meaning that our judgment improves, our ability to see the big picture improves, our ability to read people improves. We become better managers, better parents, better leaders--even better air traffic controllers! We are more emotionally stable and often more creative.

What's interesting about this book is that its not a philosophical nor a political argument. It's a book based on scientific research. Strauch uses both people studies and research from neuroscientists, psychologists etc. to explain that our brains grow far more than we ever realized, into our 60s. While we lose one kind of brain cell, we increase others. And, studies of people in their 70s today indicate that people are smarter and more able to do things like solve puzzles than the people of the same age 15 years ago.

But this is not a book about how humanity is getting smarter, it's a book that looks into the human brain and how evolution has designed a middle-aged brain to be, in many ways, more able than the twenty-five year old version. Yes that twenty-five year old can keep from hitting the squirrel in the road more easily but life is more than reflexes. According to Strauch, humans are programmed to adjust to day to day annoyances, such as losing keys and forgetting names--just as we are programmed to grow wiser.

Strauch's clear explanations of the strengths of experienced people in their 50s (men and women continue to improve mentally through their 50s and into their 60s) combined with research debunking such myths as the "midlife crisis," and the "empty nest," make it clear that people who are older are often better equipped to handle the high stress of business today than their younger colleagues. It also means that those younger colleagues have a longer, and more productive future ahead than they may have expected.

The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain is good news for everyone, including those in their twenties and thirties, who after all will be fifty one day. Its good news for the 50 year old who loses her keys and wonders if she's declining, and for the 35 year old who wonders if she will ever feel truly "grown-up." The answer from Strauch is yes. People feel better as they get older. They feel more in control and they feel grown-up and handle the stress of life. Not only is their judgment better, they actually feel more cheerful, and focus more on the positive than they did while young. This is not really such a surprise. When you first saw Sully, the airline pilot who performed the "Miracle on the Hudson, " were you really surprised to see his white hair?

Lastly Strauch talks about the concept of wisdom, a word that has been considered "squishy," but which is gaining more currency with scientists who study the brain chemistry of the middle-aged as well as the behavioral studies of groups of people over long periods of time (some over forty years.)

Most people want to believe that as they live, they learn. This book holds the evidence that if you work at something for thirty years, you get to know more than a lot of facts, you learn to put those facts together. That's good news for all of us.

It's not true! Your brain doesn't get weaker with middle age. In fact, much of it gets stronger! This book, written by New York Times science editor Barbara Strauch, explains the scientific basis behind this phenomenon. The hardback describes the latest research in an easy-to-follow and interesting way.

It makes sense that the brain's capacity for complex thought reaches its peak in middle age. That's the time of life when people need to be at their best in terms of productivity and reasoning. It's the ultimate age to juggle responsibilities.

The last sections of the book explain how tip-top brain function can be maintained, covering ideas as varied as solving crossword puzzles to learning how to play the piano. Just like with the body, the brain benefits from exercise.

I recommend this book for anyone interested in how the brain works, and how to maximize sharp thinking through middle age and beyond.

Here's the chapter list:

Introduction: The Changing Landscape of Middle Age

Part One: The Powers That Be

1. Am I Losing My Mind?

Sometimes, but the gains beat the losses

2. The Best Brains of Our Lives.

A bit slower, but so much better

3. A Brighter Pace.

I'm so glad I'm not young anymore

4. Experience. Judgement. Wisdom.

Do we really know what we're talking about?

5. The Middle in Motion

The midlife crisis conspiracy

Part Two: The Inner Workings

6. What Changes with Time

Glitches the brain learns to deal with

7. Two Brains Are Better Than One

Especially inside one head

8. Extra Brainpower

A reservoir tap when needed

Part Three: Healthier Brains

9. Keep Moving and Keep Your Wits

Exercise builds brains

10. Food for Thought

And a few other substances, as well

11. The Brain Gym

Toning up your circuits

Epilogue: A New Place for Better, Longer Lives

I first heard about this book when the author, Barbara Strauch, was interviewed on NPR a few days ago. It might have been Diane Rehm. Or was it Terry Gross? Maybe All Things Considered, the one hosted by Neil--oops, Neil who? After all I've only been listening for years now.

Okay, my point is made. I think I no longer have a middle-aged brain/mind ('m almost 69). But when I read this book, I certainly found myself there and happily so, saying to myself that this could easily be about the early elderly-mind brain. Okay, so I admit that I failed on the math problem (page 12), but I would have failed that decades ago. I simply don't think that way. But verbally, hey, I'm fine. And when I teach my writing class at a local college, I can rattle off all types of information, putting those young minds to shame. But for the moment I still cannot remember the name of that host of All Things Considered. But that is now okay. And why? Because I read this wonderful, very readable book. As soon as I post this, it will come to me. But someone once wrote, "What's in a name?..." And, yes, I know who that someone is!

I probably would not be much concerned about the issue of forgetfulness except my domestic partner of many years is and undoubtedly with good reasons since his mother was the victim of Alzheimer's. He is certain he is well on the way himself. And now I am eager to hand this book over to him and ask if maybe he might be well within the norm, especially since we are both at a very high end of middle-age (that is called denial since we are at the low end of elderly-aged mind according to Ms. Strauch). There is plenty of research for those interested in "the facts." But it is not loaded on; instead it comes in bite-size portions along with the more personal stories that I easily related to. "Where did I put my glasses?" "What was it I needed to get to add to the salad here in the produce department?" "And what is Neil's last name? A? B? Oh, well, later."

I highly recommend this book, one I suspect I will be giving to others. I predict that groups of people will be reading this together and sharing their own insights, hopefully not focusing so much upon "senior moments" as upon why the middle-aged brain is actually a very functional organism, quite possibly in better shape than younger brains!

The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain: The Surprising Talents of The Middle-Aged Mind by Barbara Strauch is sure to upset a whole wagon load of preconceived notions regarding the human brain and what it means to age.

Strauch, a science writer, farms a host of new research studies that shows the human brain actually increases its ability to process data and to do this in ways that are surprising to the researchers. One of the keys is the substance "myelin" a fatty material that insulates nerve fibers. Long understood was the notion that the amount of myelin decreased as the brain aged. In fact, myelin increases thus significantly increasing the brains ability to process information.

Researchers have also shown that while certain abilities of the brain are at there peak in young people, the fact is that as the brain ages other abilities grow. For example, while memory is at its peak in young brains, the ability to perform certain activities, such as puzzle solving or flying an airplane, increases in older brains. Further, more of the brain is used in older adults than when they were younger. It also appears that as the brain ages, it reorganizes itself and in doing so to actually increase functioning.

The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain is loaded with surprises and should give those of us in the advanced stages of life some encouragement. We're not diminishing in our intellectual capacities, but in fact, expanding our abilities. Barbara Strauch is a marvelous writer.

I encourage the more senior set to take a look at The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain and to further take what it says to heart.

Peace to all.

I'm interested in more things as I age. I seem to get better in my work and relationships as well. I'm an avid learner. When I was young, learning was the last thing on my mind. With the exciting research in this book, I can now see why all that is true.

You won't find anything about memory loss or going nutty, no depressing things in this book. The author focuses on what middle-aged brains can do better than younger brains. And let me tell you --- there are many things! I know in my case, I thought I knew totally everything when I was young. Only now am I seeing I knew so very little!

The author tells the story in a very easy-to-understand and well written way. She uses examples of discovery and profiles of brain scientists.

The book ends with advice on how to keep your brain in good condition. Naturally, there are no guarantees in that area. Life has no guarantees at any age does it? Strauch includes 20 pages of scientific citations at the end to backup all she says.

Here's the real deal --- people make a huge mistake in dismissing middle-aged and older people in life and in business. They do so at their own peril. And I really love it when science backs up what I already know. Don't you love it when you're right??

I wish I would have had the brain I have now at the age of twenty. No telling where I'd be now! Get this book if you want to get the real inside scoop on how great you can be the older you get.

- Susanna K. Hutcheson

Overall this is an interesting and readable overview of some disparate ideas in regards to the main topic of middle aged brains. Some of this seems like common sense, for instance, that middle aged people make up for some of the decrease in processing speed by drawing on their vast experience. I certainly have observed this myself in my own profession, an ability to size up a situation and act quickly and more appropriately than I would have years ago. But again this seems more or less intuitive. I think she does try to stretch a point sometimes, particularly in the chapter on mid-life crises or when she tries to make a positive out of middle aged distraction. I particularly liked the sections about how the brain function does change during middle age, and the sections about cognitive reserve and neuroplasticity. The writing style is entertaining and she includes many examples from her own personal experience, which makes the topics more relevant and interesting. I would recommend this for anyone with an interest in brain function, particularly those with experienced brains.

but I am wiser about what I actually do remember! That's what I learned after reading Barbara Strauch's book. Strauch, a deputy health editor at the New York Times and noted author and researcher, gives a little solace to we aging Baby Boomers, who often can't remember the "boom", that we're getting older but better.

She quotes scientific studies about memory and learning abilities and manages to quash one very large societal "belief", that of the "mid-life crisis". Ain't no such thing, she writes. The term was thought up back in the 1970's by a researcher who sampled a very small selection of upper-middle class men. Middle-agers are actually a fairly content bunch, she writes. Happy and highly functioning...

My only complaint about the book was the length. She established her point but then had to add "filler" to reach small book length. She probably could have made the same point in a long magazine article. That's trivial, though. I'm just glad to know that I'm not completely bonkers on a daily basis.

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"By middle age [40 to 68], the brain has developed powerful systems that can cut through the intricacies of complex problems to find...concrete answers. It more calmly manages emotions and information. It is more nimble, more flexible, even cheerier."

The above comes from this interesting book by Barbara Strauch. She is the deputy science editor and health & science editor at the "New York Times."

This book is filled with true stories, research studies, comments from scientists, conclusions, etc. that indicate that the past beliefs held with regard to the middle age brain has been incomplete, even downright misleading. Yes, there are noticeable problems sometimes (example: "I've forgotten where I put my keys--again") but the good news is that these bad things are outweighed by the good.

Popular predictions with regard to middle age are also examined. For example, take the concept of midlife crisis. Does such a crisis actually occur? As one Stanford psychologist explains:

"There is no, absolutely no, empirical evidence for a midlife crisis."

The last three chapters are about creating healthier brains, that is, keeping yourself sharp through middle age. These chapters are well-written and "evidence-based."

Finally, I only have one complaint and its got to do with the cartoon illustration on the book's cover. It's like it was designed for grade-schoolers!! Having a cover illustration like this gives the impression that the contents of this book is simplistic. In reality, its just the opposite.

This book explores the latest findings that demonstrates, through the use of technology such as brain scans, that the middle-aged brain is more flexible and more capable than previously thought. This is hardly simplistic.

In conclusion, this is a comforting book if you're middle-aged or approaching middle age. Rather than treating the middle-aged brain as "diminished, declining, and depressed," we should embrace it for what it is, "ripe, ready, and whole!!!"

(first published 2010; introduction; 3 parts or 11 chapters; epilogue; main narrative 200 pages; acknowledgments; sources; index)

<<Stephen Pletko, London, Ontario, Canada>>

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As a 38 year old who's starting to really feel the changes in how my brain works I was obviously drawn to this book. But unlike most books on the subject this one was absolutely fascinating and a pleasure to listen to. The author uses the most up to date scientific studies which is of the utmost importance to me and the reader was a joy to listen to. It explains a lot about what happens to our brains during that phase of our lives and offers some good advice on how to stop certain types of decline that is rooted in science and not just holistic new age mumbo jumbo that most books of this genre tend to use. All in all I can't recommend this book more highly if you're in the 35-65 age range.

This book is great! It is well-written and provides tons of interesting information about the middle-aged brain - and lots of hope!