Secrets of the Middle Aged Brain

As we enter middle age one of the things we fear most is loosing some of our cognitive powers, as we forget names, forget where we put the keys and where we parked the car. It all seems to signal that we are on the glide path to old age. In fact science is now telling us something very different. N.Y. Times deputy science editor Barbara Strauch, in her new book The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind, tells us that we may be just reaching our peak of mental abilities in so many areas. It seems that something as simple as education, or working, may be the key to building and enhancing the brain for a lifetime. My conversation with Barbara Strauch: