Saturday, April 4, 2009

Mental decline begins in late 20s: Study

Contrary to common belief that memory loss begins in old age, a new study finds that brainpower and mental ability decline in the late 20s.

According to the study published in Neurobiology of Aging, the peak mental agility and top mental performance occurs at the age of 22. In the late 20s, reasoning, spatial visualization and speed of thought begin to decline; memory however has been reported to remain intact until the age of 37.

The individual's performance on vocabulary or general information tests are reported to increase until the age of 60, indicating that only certain aspects of age-related cognitive decline begin in healthy adults in their 20s and 30s.

Scientists concluded that strategies adopted to keep mental decline at bay and inhibit Alzheimer's disease should be pursued much earlier.


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