The days of frequent brain farts may be closer than you think: If you’re over the ripe old age of 18, some of your cognitive skills have already headed south , according to new findings from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
But not all of your brain is in a free fall. The study also found it could take years or decades before some of your other mental abilities reach their peak.
Researchers put together a set of short, simple computer games designed to assess various cognitive skills—like processing speed, vocabulary, and social cognition—for players ages 10 to 89.
The scientists found that different brain skills peak and decline at wildly different ages, starting as early as your late teens and as late as your 70s.
The Better Man Project
So which of your mental skills are already over the hill, and which ones are still getting sharper?
Here’s a look at how four of your major cognitive abilities change as you age—and how to make the most of them right now.
1. Processing Speed
What it is:
When it peaks:
Why it matters:
But remember: Coming up with a fast solution isn’t always the same as coming up with the right solution.
“It’s good to be able to run fast, but it’s better to know where you’re going,” says study coauthor Joshua Hartshorne, Ph.D.
During your teens and early 20s, your peak ability to draw on experiences and make decisions based on them is still decades away.
How to make it better
10 Exercises That Burn More Calories Than Running
2. Working Memory
What it is
When it peaks
Why it matters
How to make it better
In a recent Temple University study of college-aged men, people who played action video games for an hour a day for 30 days boosted their working memory.
The researchers believe this might be because the hectic, fast-paced nature of action games forces players to hold lots of information in their brains at one time.
3. Social Cognition
What it is
When it peaks
Why it matters
How to make it better
A new study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience found that men with higher blood levels of oxytocin show more activity in the areas of the brain that are responsible for social cognition.
4. Vocabulary
What it is
When it peaks
Why it matters
4 Things You Think Turn Her On—That Don’t
How to make it better
“There are many things in our culture that make us think more. Movie plots, TV plots, and book plots have gotten more complicated,” Hartshorne says.
In other words, the more thought-provoking stuff you expose yourself to, the more new terms you might pick up along the way. Permission to binge on Game of Thrones: granted.
