Age-Related Cognitive Decline

The cognitive decline is definitely something that worries me. It's been fascinating to observe changes in myself. The days when I would just brute force my to power through problems have definitely decreased in favour of using experience and shortcuts.I now make a conscious effort to check every so often that I'm not always using fast thinking and do actually apply real focus to questions.Definitely having younger people around really helps. And there will come a point where I s

I'm only 31, but I've noticed a considerable decline in my mental ability over the last decade. My ability to learn and adapt at 16-21 was immense compared to today. I could pick up new programming languages or learn a skill easily back then. I was also more creative and there was rarely a day I wasn't coming up with some new project or business idea.On top of the mental decline I've also noticed I'm just more tired and less driven generally. Even if I have a good ide

...to make up for a slower brain, less stamina and decreasing memory...This is NOT normal and should not be accepted as such.I'm 63 and have been programming professionally for 40 years. I'm currently working on several projects that are as complex as anything I've ever done. I honestly feel that that I get better every year, build stuff I never imagined a few years ago. I know this is subjective, but I feel like my brain is faster, I have more st

You can have pretty much the same mental condition when you are 70-80 years old as when you are 20-30. But to have that you need to keep using your brain and challenging it. Old people usually have much less opportunity to stay mentally active. And less motivation.Statements above are based mostly on The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge[1] which I highly reccomend. Plus just listen to some old folks that you can tell are still quick - Warren Buffet 86, Chomsky 88, James Harris Simon

> my mind might not be 100% as quick as it was when i was 20care to elaborate? I'm 34 and I keep hearing that my mind is supposed to slow down but it hasn't yet. I drink 2 cups of coffee a day, don't smoke cigs, am not overweight, try to go for a walk for 30 minutes minimum each day, go to sleep by 9ish and am up by 3 or 4am. I also watch very little TV, read regularly and push myself to learn new stuff on a near constant basis (python > node > c# > cg within the sp

Fluid intelligence decreases with age, but crystallized intelligence continues to grow. You (metaphorical you) really are slower than the younger, headstrong kid. All hope is not lost though, you're still valuable on the market, you just present a different value proposition than you did in your youth.https://www.verywell.com/fluid-intelligence-vs-crys

I can't find it now, but someone else on Hacker News a while ago posted a study that backed you up. Age above ~20 made people worse at basically every type of cognition test except for general knowledge.Edit: Found it. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797614567339Posted originally in this comment by checkyoursudo: <a href="https:/

There are concepts called crystallized intelligence (stuff you learned) and fluid intelligence ("working memory", ability to work with x number of data points). The latter is what drops with age.The idea isn't that you aren't effective when you are old, just that you are slower.Some studies showed a slower rate of decline in execs and people doing interesting/creative work, which implies that the "not doing anything new" is at least partially at fault.

Firstly for everyone this is obviously a generalised statement. However cognitive ability can be improved by changing ways we learn and do, ways we approach tasks, and using the right resources or support networks. Therefore whilst the older amongst us may not be able to brute force a task or subject matter like I did at one point in my life, I now have the knowledge to make better connections between pieces of information and I think that gives me a greater ability to learn overall. My methods

It's hard to give an answer without knowing other variables - namely, what else is happening in your life.I can relate to this sentiment over the past few years. The other variables, for me, are that the demands of raising a young family have grown, my day job has shifted into more of a maintenance mode with less latitude for creative development, and my family has recently suffered a tragic loss. During this time, I've been astounded how much more difficult it has seemed to accompl