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Driven to Distraction? Here's Why
As I age I notice that I hate chaos (I also wonder about people who seem to like it. How's that helping them?).
A recent study of adults over 65 indicates that as we become older it becomes more difficult to filter out the distractions around us, causing older adults to have more difficulty staying focused on a task.
The study uses magnetic resonance imagery (MRI) to measure brain function during a series of tests for perception and recall; the results indicate that there is a gradual and age related loss of ability to weed out distractions to the task at hand. The authors think that this tendency toward being more easily distracted puts older adults as greater risk for injury.
They also note that this knowledge creates an opportunity to educate individuals about this increased risk, and to help them develop strategies to maintain concentration, and sometimes safety. For example, turning down music or the TV while trying to balance the checkbook, or not talking on a cell phone while trying to drive the car would be appropriate adaptations to this change in brain function.
The authors note that participants in this study had an average secondary school education and that other studies have shown that the more education an adult has, the better they adapt to changes in brain function as they age. I'm just hoping they're right about that :>)
Laurie
Related Topics: Menopause & Memory: Search for Links, Foods to Improve Your Concentration
Technorati Tags: aging
A recent study of adults over 65 indicates that as we become older it becomes more difficult to filter out the distractions around us, causing older adults to have more difficulty staying focused on a task.
The study uses magnetic resonance imagery (MRI) to measure brain function during a series of tests for perception and recall; the results indicate that there is a gradual and age related loss of ability to weed out distractions to the task at hand. The authors think that this tendency toward being more easily distracted puts older adults as greater risk for injury.
They also note that this knowledge creates an opportunity to educate individuals about this increased risk, and to help them develop strategies to maintain concentration, and sometimes safety. For example, turning down music or the TV while trying to balance the checkbook, or not talking on a cell phone while trying to drive the car would be appropriate adaptations to this change in brain function.
The authors note that participants in this study had an average secondary school education and that other studies have shown that the more education an adult has, the better they adapt to changes in brain function as they age. I'm just hoping they're right about that :>)
Laurie
Why is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person?
Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613 - 1680)
French author & moralist
Related Topics: Menopause & Memory: Search for Links, Foods to Improve Your Concentration
Technorati Tags: aging
