Three Ways Aging Biases Your Post-50 Brain

After age 50, the aging process affects people's brains in various ways, reports Northwestern University professor Sally Blount in Forbes . "At 50 or so, people begin to move from viewing their lives as interminable stretches of time to seeing them as finite, and this transition shapes how we allocate our attention and the types of goals we choose to pursue," she writes. Blount also observes that the value of emotional comfort — spending time with friends and family — starts to grow past age 50. "It's important, as the average lifespan lengthens, that we push ourselves to stay open to new people and ideas as we age," she argues. Blount specifically says "we need to keep our deep learning muscles alive and active — both physically and mentally." A third phenomenon she notes is a tendency "to hold tighter to long-held world views" as the perception of death becomes more palpable. "In an effort to give voice to and justify their life story, people defend their life choices more vigorously and become less open to other ways of seeing the world," Blount remarks. She says the most active seniors more often "consciously restrain their drive to talk in favor of listening and asking questions."