grow older better

Tag: human development

  • Brain, Connections, and Genius

    brain halves

    Recently there have been new studies about Einstein’s brain – which was removed and preserved.

    Modern technology is being used to look at it, and like the research we read on brains and memory as we age, it seems that thickness, and connections make a difference in our brains.

    Einstein had more connections between the two halves of his brain than do most of us. 

    The research wonders if anyone else can come along with the genius of Einstein. 

    I guess a question I would raise is which came first, his brain or his genius thinking?

    Is it possible to “train” our brains to make more connections between the halves and to have it form more convoluted patterns [such as found in earlier studies of Einstein’s brain.]

    And – another question is” are there people with brains’ like this who are not making use of it like Einstein did?

    I guess you can tell I have some research training  😎

    I think we are into a period of new brain research and that is good for young and old!

     

     

  • Brains, Memory, and Aging

    human brain

    A study on what are called “superagers” shows that not all older people lose memory as they age.

     

    This study looked at those over 80….

     

    “Then we found something even more surprising, which was even harder to believe,” she says. “In an area called the anterior cingulate of the brain, it was actually thicker in the superagers than it was in the 50-year-olds.” The anterior cingulate is a small brain region important for attention and memory.

    A youthful cortex and thicker cingulate suggest to Rogalski that these two brain regions have been spared the typical age-related shrinkage, which may be what protects against the memory decline seen in most elderly people. Superagers also have fewer risk genes for Alzheimer’s than typical 80-year-olds, she notes.

     

     I am not sure why some brains at 80 look like younger ones, but I love this kind of research!

    We need to learn much more about how to keep our bodies and brains healthier as we age!!

    Thoughts? Comments?

    thank you

     

  • Oregonians! Scam Jam Might Be For You

    With the coming of the Affordable Care Act [ACA or Obamacare,] holidays, and wet weather “roofing experts” – it might be good to learn how to protect yourself from scammers.. and for those not yet “elders” it never hurts to learn about self-protection.

     

    This event is co-sponsored by the organizations and agencies listed at the bottom..

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    Whether it’s bogus investment or insurance deals, the Grandparent Scam, Medicaid fraud, or the newest ID Theft ploy – sophisticated con-artists are busy at work coming up with new ways to get you to hand over your hard-earned money. It’s important to keep up to date on the latest scams and schemes to help protect you and the people you care about from getting duped. You can if you attend Scam Jam at the Oregon Convention Center on Tuesday, October 22.
    Learn to protect yourself and your loved ones
    Get the most up-to-date information on what to look out for from Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and AARP Washington State Director Doug Schadel, author of Outsmarting the Scam Artist, as well as other experts and leading consumer advocates.
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    ©iStockphoto.com/00001945974
    		Scam Jam
    Tuesday, October 22, 2013
    9:00 am – 12:30 pm
    Resource tables and registration begin at 8:00 am     Oregon Convention Center
    777 Martin Luther King Blvd.
    Portland, OR 97232     Map It

    Register
      
    Sponsored by AARP Oregon, the Oregon Department of Justice, and the Oregon Division of Consumer and Business Services. Scam Jam is an educational and entertaining program where you can learn about today’s scams and schemes.

  • Obesity And Your Lifespan

    figure_on_bathroom_scale_400_clr_3535

    More of we older people, more than previously thought, may be shortening our lifespans due to obesity issues.

     

    The death toll of the nation’s obesity epidemic may be close to four times higher than has been widely believed, and all that excess weight could reverse the steady trend of lengthening life spans for a generation of younger Americans, new research warns.

     

    There are some studies that showed that having extra weight as we age might be a sort of protection – but in recent years all the research I have read shows that obesity shortens lives – of adults, of teens and of children.

    Me? I’d rather err on the side of not carrying around extra weight.

    Comments? Thoughts?

    Thank you…

     

     

     

     

     

  • Washboards, Washing Machines, And Memories

    I have had a lot of conversations of late with a good friend, my age, who is visiting, and we have been reminiscing about how things were…

    washboard

    It’s fun to try and remember how life was before all the conveniences we take for granted were in existence, or in my existence. Things like washing machines, TVs, checking accounts, credit cards, and a whole lot of other modern conveniences…. 

    I have decided to write about these to refresh my memory and to make some sort of record for 

    my son and anyone else who is interested in living history.

     I often regret that I did not push my own mom a bit harder to talk more about her childhood and youth – she was generally reluctant to talk about it so I did not push hard.  Now I wish I had asked a lot more questions.

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    Memories about washing clothes

     

    There aren’t many household chores I enjoy – but washing clothes, oddly, is one I love. 

    I don’t do them by hand; I do have a washing machine so the part I love is hanging them outside on a line to dry in sun.

    Doing this often has me thinking back on how we washed and dried clothes before all the modern appliances came into being.

    I remember a double sink in the basement of the house I grew up in. It was deep to hold the washing board and I think it was made of concrete.

    My mom used Fels Naptha and scrubbed the clothes in one half of that sink and rinsed them in the other half. They were then wrung out by hand, and hung outside on a line to dry, or hung on a clothesline in the basement when the weather was bad.

    I don’t recall when we got a real washing machine, but I do remember it had a wringer on it!  One fed the clothing thru that wringer to squeeze out excess water.

    That was modern technology!

    Over the years, I moved on to machines that wash, rinse, and spin dry….

    Yes, I do own a dryer, but my preference will always be the sun! 

     

    And PS – I now make my own laundry soap and guess what? The main ingredient is Fels Naptha!

    What are some of your memoir of how things  were? 

    Stay tuned for more “blasts” from my past  :roll