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Over the Hill at 24: decline in cognitive motor performance begins at 24

cognitive decline

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#1 lemonhead

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Posted 17 April 2014 - 01:29 PM


Over the Hill at 24: Persistent Age-Related Cognitive-Motor Decline in Reaction Times in an Ecologically Valid Video Game Task Begins in Early Adulthood [PMID: 24718593 ]

PLoS One. 2014 Apr 9;9(4):e94215. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0094215. eCollection 2014.

Thompson JJ1, Blair MR1, Henrey AJ2.

 

Abstract

Typically studies of the effects of aging on cognitive-motor performance emphasize changes in elderly populations. Although some research is directly concerned with when age-related decline actually begins, studies are often based on relatively simple reaction time tasks, making it impossible to gauge the impact of experience in compensating for this decline in a real world task. The present study investigates age-related changes in cognitive motor performance through adolescence and adulthood in a complex real world task, the real-time strategy video game StarCraft 2. In this paper we analyze the influence of age on performance using a dataset of 3,305 players, aged 16-44, collected by Thompson, Blair, Chen & Henrey [1]. Using a piecewise regression analysis, we find that age-related slowing of within-game, self-initiated response times begins at 24 years of age. We find no evidence for the common belief expertise should attenuate domain-specific cognitive decline. Domain-specific response time declines appear to persist regardless of skill level. A second analysis of dual-task performance finds no evidence of a corresponding age-related decline. Finally, an exploratory analyses of other age-related differences suggests that older participants may have been compensating for a loss in response speed through the use of game mechanics that reduce cognitive load.

 

From Discussion:

While our work does not directly assess the neurobiological bases of age-related decline, the isolation of these changes to the mid-twenties is potentially relevant to this literature. Consider, for example, changes in myelination integrity known to be related to finger tapping speed. These changes are thought to peak around 39 [26], far outside the confidence interval for the declines documented here, and so seem a poor candidate explanation. On the other hand, metabolic changes, such as in ratios of N-acetylaspartate (NAA) to choline (Cho) appear to begin in the early twenties or sooner [27], are thus, logically, more likely candidates.


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#2 Jbac

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Posted 17 April 2014 - 04:07 PM

I knew it. 24 is when my body started falling apart. I'm 25 now and walk with a limp. Time to start taking telomere extenders.
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#3 lemonhead

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Posted 17 April 2014 - 05:56 PM

Wait 'til you hit 44; I've always felt not-so-great, but I now know what they mean by 'getting old ain't for sissies'.

 

Can anyone comment on the N-acetylaspartate (NAA) to choline (Cho) ratio thing? This is  the first I've heard of that metric.



#4 Debaser

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Posted 17 April 2014 - 06:57 PM

I certainly noticed a decline after 24.



#5 tritium

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Posted 17 April 2014 - 07:10 PM

I do not accept this decline and will not allow it to happen.  I'll constantly search for nootropics to counter this decline and prove the author incorrect.


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#6 Jbac

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Posted 17 April 2014 - 07:11 PM

Kinda gives the lie to the whole "eat right and exercise and you'll be healthy forever" thing doesn't it

#7 lemonhead

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Posted 17 April 2014 - 08:19 PM

Yup, aging sucks, though some people fare better than others.

I'm pretty sure this lady as she is at 77 could've kicked my ass when I was in my 24-yr old body or even as a teen.

http://www.huffingto..._n_5037892.html

 

genes + environment; all you can control is your environment, so try your best to stay healthy, and make money so you can afford whatever rejuvenation technologies become available. That's my (unsolicited) advice for the day.



#8 airplanepeanuts

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Posted 17 April 2014 - 09:22 PM

I don't buy it.

 

 

 

One possible concern is that our finding of age-related decline in StarCraft 2 could be due to a speed accuracy trade-off: older players become slower in virtue of focusing on accurate movements or strategic planning. It is straightforward to imagine this kind of trade-off in a strategy game like chess, where one could improve one's decisions by spending more time exploring possible moves. In StarCraft 2, it's not clear that speed-accuracy trade-offs of the kind typically discussed even exist. The vast majority of player actions can only be inaccurate in the sense that a player has performed an unintended keystroke or mouse movement. While moving a pawn when one should have moved a rook is often a serious mistake in chess, it is typically not in StarCraft 2, in part because actions can simply be reversed easily, and in part because most actions are made within the player's view-screen (which occupies less than 5% of typical competitive StarCraft 2 maps) and so one often can only err so dramatically, and enemy armies are typically too far apart to capitalize on any such mistakes before they can be corrected. As a result, most of the individual actions in StarCraft 2 are of little strategic significance in and of themselves.

 

So there is no speed accuracy trade-off in Starcraft 2 and there aren't any real inaccurate actions? I haven't played it, but it would be very dull game if it was true. And people like that game so...

 

It's much more plausible that people over 24 having left their first youth behind get a little calmer and less trigger happy



#9 GoingPrimal

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Posted 18 April 2014 - 08:03 AM

 

 

genes + environment; all you can control is your environment, 

 

Not so, the environment you put yourself in, the food you eat, the moods you entertain all affect you at the genetic level. 

 

That said, I'll be 25 next month, I'm looking to delay this decline. 



#10 fairy

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Posted 19 April 2014 - 09:51 AM

[wiki] Age-Related Neuronal Morphology

 

There is converging evidence from cognitive neuroscientists around the world that age-induced cognitive deficits may not be due to neuronal loss or cell death, but rather may be the result of small region-specific changes to the morphology of neurons.[6] Studies by Duan et al., have shown that dendritic arbors and dendritic spines of cortical pyramidal neurons decrease in size and/or number in specific regions and layers of human and non-human primate cortex as a result of age (Duan et al., 2003; morph). Interestingly, a 46% decrease in spine number and spine density has been reported in humans older than 50 compared with younger individuals.[7] An electron microscopy study in monkeys reported a 50% loss in spines on the apical dendritic tufts of pyramidal cells in prefrontal cortex of old animals (27–32 years old) compared with young ones (6–9 years old).[7] http://goo.gl/8u1bSP

 

Are there nootropics active in dendridic arbors and spines genesis? I know that a lot of factors are involved in the ageing process but a 50% loss of *something* sounds crazy.


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#11 Godof Smallthings

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Posted 19 April 2014 - 01:42 PM

Centella asiatica fresh leaf extract grows dendrites in rats (confirmed in hippocampal and amygdaloid cells), and given its popularity in traditional Indian and Chinese medicine for treating memory problems and longevity, it likely occurs in humans as well.

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/18218554

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/23212568

 


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#12 fairy

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Posted 19 April 2014 - 02:57 PM

Thank you.

 

It is worth mentioning that like with other well known medicinal plants (http://goo.gl/ofntPr), chronic assumption of Centella asiatica is not safe practice http://goo.gl/D35s9I.



#13 nowayout

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Posted 19 April 2014 - 03:24 PM

Lol, I was much better in my 30s than in my 20s.  I wouldn't worry about it unless you are the typical sedentary gamer.  (I mean, who seriously plays computer games after puberty anyway?)


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#14 Jbac

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Posted 19 April 2014 - 03:46 PM

^who invited this guy?
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#15 tunt01

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Posted 19 April 2014 - 04:40 PM

You may lose horsepower IQ, processing speed, etc.  But you gain wisdom.  In some areas the decline post-24 age might be purely detrimental, but in many, if not most areas of research and cognitive thought, you still gain capability through the combination of experience/wisdom and adequate IQ processing speed.



#16 Jbac

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Posted 19 April 2014 - 05:43 PM

wisdom is a superstitious concept
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#17 lemonhead

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Posted 19 April 2014 - 06:29 PM

Lol, I was much better in my 30s than in my 20s.  I wouldn't worry about it unless you are the typical sedentary gamer.  (I mean, who seriously plays computer games after puberty anyway?)

 

À chacun son goût, as they say. It's a diversion from life, like reading. The gaming data set was big, and I think the study was measuring something (some aspect of cognitive ability), though how important that something is in life is, of course, debatable.

 

You may lose horsepower IQ, processing speed, etc.  But you gain wisdom.  In some areas the decline post-24 age might be purely detrimental, but in many, if not most areas of research and cognitive thought, you still gain capability through the combination of experience/wisdom and adequate IQ processing speed.

 

Wouldn't it be nice to have both horsepower and wisdom, though?



#18 normalizing

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Posted 19 April 2014 - 09:15 PM

Centella asiatica fresh leaf extract grows dendrites in rats (confirmed in hippocampal and amygdaloid cells), and given its popularity in traditional Indian and Chinese medicine for treating memory problems and longevity, it likely occurs in humans as well.

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/18218554

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/23212568

 

 

Centella grows along ditches and in low, wet areas. In Indian and Southeast Asian centella, the plant frequently suffers from high levels of bacterial contamination, possibly from having been harvested from sewage ditches. Because the plant is aquatic, it is especially sensitive to pollutants in the water, which are easily incorporated into the plant.

 

 

from what i can gather all centella imports come from china and india (very bad environmental record for their imports) and i wouldnt suggest anyone try this. good try though, cheers!



#19 tunt01

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 12:50 AM

 

Wouldn't it be nice to have both horsepower and wisdom, though?

 

 

....

 

It'd also be nice to be 6'5", have the nimbleness of an olympic gymnast, the good looks of Brad Pitt and the ability to karate chop down oak trees with my bare hands.  But I have to live in the real world.



#20 midas

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 01:30 AM

I cant believe I'm reading people here that are 24 and 25 that are worried about getting old, you folks are only just starting to live your lives......Get out there and get on with it before you wish it all away.

By the time you're in your late 30's you most likely will be taking a pill that makes you live to 150.

 

If you think you are feeling stuff at that age you will get the fright of your lives when you get into your mid to late 40's if they don't come up with that pill. :)

 

PS. A quote from 1900 as to how things will be in America in the year 2000

 

"He will live fifty years instead of thirty-five
as at present
"


Edited by midas, 20 April 2014 - 01:37 AM.


#21 normalizing

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 06:34 PM

6'5 ? why would you wanna be that tall. in evolution it seems, most things manage to pass through and survive on less recources and smaller height and weight than the opposite. you got this wrong....


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#22 Godof Smallthings

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Posted 22 April 2014 - 08:08 AM

 

Centella asiatica fresh leaf extract grows dendrites in rats (confirmed in hippocampal and amygdaloid cells), and given its popularity in traditional Indian and Chinese medicine for treating memory problems and longevity, it likely occurs in humans as well.

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/18218554

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/23212568

 

 

Centella grows along ditches and in low, wet areas. In Indian and Southeast Asian centella, the plant frequently suffers from high levels of bacterial contamination, possibly from having been harvested from sewage ditches. Because the plant is aquatic, it is especially sensitive to pollutants in the water, which are easily incorporated into the plant.

 

 

from what i can gather all centella imports come from china and india (very bad environmental record for their imports) and i wouldnt suggest anyone try this. good try though, cheers!

 

 

While it is true that centella asiatica is a cleanser in the environment and therefore can contain pollutants, this problem is not insurmountable.

 

I do not think all centella imports come from China and India, and I am sure anyone interested can find other sources with a little effort. I agree it is always an excellent idea to check the source.

 

Centella asiatica thrives in tropical climates. Here in Thailand it grows easily in all kinds of wet environments with sufficient soil drainage. I see wild centella asiatica grow near waterfalls and mountain streams when I am out hiking, and also along canals. It thrives in Queensland, Australia, too, and I would be surprised if there are not people growing it organically in the South of the US somewhere.

 

For those of us who live in the tropics, growing one's own and eating the fresh leaves, blending them into a smoothie or making an alcoholic extract is very easy. That's what I do.

 

The point of my post was not to write an exhaustive piece on centella asiatica, rather to just answer the simple question of whether there are any nootropics that increase dendritic arborization. This one does.
 


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#23 lemonhead

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Posted 22 April 2014 - 01:28 PM

FWIW, you can buy organic Centella asiatica (gotu kola) here in the US (e.g. Gaia Herbs brand); I've never tried it myself.



#24 normalizing

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Posted 22 April 2014 - 05:08 PM

^ but cantella asiatica doesnt grow in US, only in tropics. how can you grow it in US? suspicious...



#25 lemonhead

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Posted 22 April 2014 - 07:50 PM

How to Grow Gotu Kola: Growing Conditions

Asiatic coinwort, as it is also known, is hardy to USDA zones 7 to 11 (lows of 0 F) and thrives in full sun but can grow in the shade. It can become an invasive weed when grown in damp areas and it colonizes moist lawns.

 
Scroll down this page:
for gardeners' comments on their experiences with this plant.
 

Edited by lemonhead, 22 April 2014 - 07:54 PM.

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#26 fairy

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Posted 18 February 2015 - 06:25 PM

I've been taking it for two weeks now (brand goo.gl/AVSDWH). Every capsule has 364 mg (11% or 40 mg of asiaticoside) of concentrated Centella Asiatica leaf extract. Judging from what's written in this page [...] 50 - 250 mg, two to three times daily. Standardized extracts should contain 40 % asiaticoside [...] goo.gl/aZcAgW 3 g could be the maximal suggested dose. I take two capsules every morning, which is the recommended dosage from the producer. I wonder how much I have to take to mimic these results:
 
The results showed a significant increase in the dendritic length (intersections) and dendritic branching points along the length of both apical and basal dendrites in rats treated with 6 mL/kg body weight/day of CeA for 6 weeks. However, the rats treated with 2 and 4 mL/kg body weight/day for 2 and 4 weeks did not show any significant change in hippocampal CA3 neuronal dendritic arborization. - goo.gl/SOtPTy
 
Relevant: goo.gl/R9acNM.







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