Do our minds seem to wear down as we age only because we know too much?
 
That’s what the latest research seems to say: Our brains become increasingly sluggish not because they’re deteriorating, but because we’re packing ‘em so full of experience and information.
 
So say authors Wayne D. Gray and Thomas Hills in an article entitled “Does Cognition Deteriorate With Age or Is It Enhanced by Experience?” -- a review, apparently, of a landmark book entitled The Myth of Cognitive Decline.
 
At least I think that’s what Gray and Hills are saying when they claim that “our poorer memory for names as we age, over the last several decades at least, is a result of the massive cultural proliferation of novel names alongside the increasing number of names experienced over a lifetime.”
 
Right. We forget Mary’s name because of the proliferation of Kukulas and Thiagos and Zelias. 
 
“Pretty much any cognitive theory with which we are familiar would have to predict that the more things you have in memory the longer will be your search time,” write Gray and Hills. They quote Myth: “’In information theoretic terms…. a measure of processing speed that ignores information load is meaningless.’”
 
Is that kind of like our Pastor Joe says, that all the information is still there in our brains – it’s just that the librarians in charge of retrieving it are slowing down? (To which I would add: These librarians store all this information in First In, First Out [FIFO] order, rather than Last In, First Out [LIFO] order, which is why we can remember what we were doing on July 4, 1959, but don’t have a clue what we had for lunch yesterday.)
 
This fuzzy old brain of mine may be too information-packed to adequately decode ultra-smart academic language like this:
 
“Many things covary as we grow up and grow older,” they write, “and, just as in the nature versus nurture debate over childhood development, a rush to judgment obscures and confuses the search for mechanisms and for the achievement of scientific, as well as personal, understanding of the changes that we all pass through.” 
 
I think that means something along the lines of this: “Old people are encyclopedic in their knowledge rather than deteriorating mentally – so let’s not judge or disrespect them or toss them aside because they don’t seem to be as smart as we younger folks. Really, they’re practically geniuses.”
 
But you know what? These thoroughly educated researchers are missing the point. We are not valuable because of what we know. We are valuable because we are the Creator’s handiwork, because He loved us enough to die for us, and because He has commanded us to love others as we love ourselves and to care for widows in their affliction. 

Of course, such commands will only be embraced by His children – that is, the born-again who have repented and trusted in Jesus. So perhaps it’s no surprise that, in an attempt to make us act godly without bringing God into the picture, we see the world’s experts building elaborate Rube Goldberg patches and workarounds  for issues that are only problematic for those on the wrong side of the narrow gate.

Here's the truth: As the 2nd law of thermodynamics predicts, our aging brains are wearing out. But that does not decrease our value one iota in the eyes of our Creator. And His are the only eyes that matter.

Beats me -- and of course it's hard to know what's true and what isn't these days, outside the pages of Scripture. But lately I've been hearing a lot about coconut oil's value for battling a range of disorders, particularly Alzheimer's disease -- in the video below, for instance. Seems like it's worth a try.

I personally am testing its impact on arresting and reversing the memory deterioration that seems to begin around age 50. Can't say that my brain has reverted to age 49 -- not yet, at least!

Interesting that there don't seem to be any formal studies of coconut oil's impact on brain health. Why is that? Could it be that since you can't patent it, there's no incentive for funding the research?

There’s one characteristic shared by nearly all elderly women living in American nursing homes – and that’s the fact that almost all are widows.

The statistics are there for anyone to see: Our men are living to an average age of just under 76; women, to almost 81. And we usually marry men who are two or three years older than we are, according to recent statistics. Ergo, most of us wives  are likely to outlive our husbands by a number of years.

I think about this fact often when I visit my friends at what my mom called "the old ladies' home." And it’s sort of hanging around the back of my mind the rest of the week, too, because these women are my heroes. They have survived what must surely be one of life’s greatest trials -- losing not just their mates and their caretakers but even their identities, as Joe's wife became Joe's widow.

Some, however, are spared the worst of it. And guess what: It's not those independents with feminist leanings, but those who count themselves children of God. 

These, in fact, are the widows who seem to have recovered most successfully from their losses, in my experience. Sure, they miss their husbands greatly and speak of them fondly. They keep pictures on their night tables and walls to remind them of their happy lives together. And they are definitely looking forward with great delight to their impending heavenly reunions.

But for the time being, they are positioned solidly in the present, living new lives sans spouse, and gratefully accepting whatever help they need from their brothers and sisters in Christ. 

I remember wondering about this before I became a Christian myself: How do you do that? How do you face tomorrow without your beloved companion at your side? Which is why I look at these women with awe, knowing that they have gone through this dark tunnel and somehow came out the other end smiling.

I remember my mother saying, after my dad’s death at age 59, that she had now turned the page to a new chapter in her life. She didn’t say that right away, of course; it took some months for her to heal enough to view her life in those terms. But she did ultimately say it, and mean it, and live it. 

I wonder how well the women of my generation will fare in this department. I'm sure the born-again Christians will be fine, but we are a dying breed, according to surveys I've seen over the last decade.  How will those who are not born-again manage? 

If the Lord tarries, it's going to be very interesting to find out.