New Delhi, October 19 (IANS). In the Golden Age, people (be it men or women) can often be heard complaining about forgetting something or about their brain not working properly. But a study claims to change this thinking. This is nothing less than good news for the Golden Age!
Our physical strength, skin and fertility are all at their peak during puberty – but research is claiming that the best time for our brains is actually in the later years of life.
The study, published in the journal Intelligence, reviewed age and data measuring abilities such as reasoning, memory span, processing speed, cognition and emotional intelligence.
“For many of us, overall psychological functioning actually peaks between the ages of 55 and 60,” study author Gilles E. Gignac, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Western Australia, wrote in The Conversation.
It doesn’t start to decline until about age 65 – and the decline only accelerates after age 75.
The team focused on five key personality traits, which are extroversion, emotional stability, conscientiousness, outspokenness and agreeableness.
They found that many of these traits also reach their peak in later life, with conscientiousness peaking around age 65 and emotional stability at age 75.
They found that moral reasoning also improves with age. “Our findings may help explain why people in their 50s and early 60s play leadership roles in business, politics and public life,” Gignac said.
According to the team, some special abilities decline with age, but this decline is balanced by development in other areas.
–IANS
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