Argument Against Aging

The elderly population is growing rapidly and now makes up greater than thirteen percent of the United States population. (APA, 1994). With such a record growth, there are different aspects to aging that are still being analyzed. Many may think of reaching late life as a rite of passage, but many face this time with a different view. Through the movie "UP', we are granted an opportunity into view the struggles of an elderly widowed man by the name of Mr. Fredrickson and the challenges in which he faces in his later life. The movie, takes one on a journey through his sorrows and his triumphs until he realizes what the true meaning of happiness is.

Research has proven that physical activity improves cognitive function and can also improve brain function throughout a lifespan. Moreover, staying physically active has so many benefits as well. For example, doing exercise and fitness activities help build cells and natural pathways to help reduce changes in memory loss or dementia. Also, it has so many health benefits including long-term improvements to the cognitive function as the young adult reaching mid

Cavanaugh and Blanchard-Fields (2015) state that there is research showing how brain plasticity can be enhanced through aerobic exercise (p.51). It is important that adults be active in their lives. A 30-minute walk or some type of physical activity will benefit them as the age. The text mentions a study done by Erickson and his colleagues in 2009 where they studied the effect of aerobic exercise on the hippocampus. They found that due to aerobic exercise it produced greater volume in the hippocampus. This is significant because the hippocampus is the part of the brain that is responsible for memory, emotions, and spatial functioning. The body does not only need physical activities to produce healthier cognitive functioning but also nutrients. The text identifies three nutrient biomarker patterns that are significant on the aging brain. These nutrients are vitamin B, C,D, and E, omega-3, and trans fat. the foods that belong to these nutrients are beneficial to the brain. Older adults should make an effort to include these nutrients into their diets. positive impacts these nutrients make are better cognitive functioning and greater brain

According to research, "[There is a massive loss,] gray matter, which brain researchers believe supports all our thinking and emotions, is purged at a rate of 1 percent to 2 percent a year during this period.... These frontal lobes, which inhibit our violent passions, rash actions, and regulate our emotions, are vastly immature throughout the teenage years (Thompson, 7)." This means that scientifically, only stating facts, juveniles are not ready to be equal to adults. Similar questions arose in Marjie Lundstrom's article, "Kids Are Kids- Until They Commit Crimes." Lundstrom states how ironic it is that society perceives juvenile-aged children as such immature and untrustworthy human beings until they commit crimes (Lundstrom, 3). Suddenly, their rights as kids are taken away and they are left to be fully responsible for their actions, which they were never used to doing. They suddenly lose their rights to be protected by their parents and they are put in a situation where they cannot support themselves, they have no experience being self- reliant, but they have to

In the book Spark, written by Dr. John J. Ratey, he discusses how exercise can positively affect how your brain works. He provides studies and personal experiences to support the claims he makes. I always knew exercise would improve your life but never could have imagined how much it can affect your brain health as well. The chapter I thought spoke the most to me was chapter two, Learning: Grow Your Brain Cells.

A study was made on the human brain to see exactly how it changes throughout the years of developing. During the first ten months all neurons are barely starting to make connections. Then progressing to age six the brain’s frontal lobes start developing emotion, attachments, planning, working memory, and perception. Then, during the “teenage years”  the neural connections or “gray” matter is still developing. this is the reason to why they need to control their impulses because with all the drug and alcohol influences that are invading every high schooler's life they don't even know how to control it. The brain reaches its peak at twenty two and last for five more years afterwards it’s a

A quick Google search for common myth about aging will yield about 12,000,000 results. The magnitude of the number leads you to believe that, as a society, we are completely disillusioned by the process of getting older. We are assume, as a society that as you age your brain shrinks, you will be cranky and unhappy, dementia, weight gain, muscle loss and loneliness are unavoidable. The picture painted by these myths is ugly and possibly reinforce the idolization of youth and beauty in American culture. No one want to volunteer for the possess of getting old if it is so stigmatize, let’s face it no one wants to turn into the grumpy, old, deaf blind, intelligent oaf that is described by the media.

People don’t develop at the same rate as others for instance Females' brains develop about on average two years earlier than male brains.“ In this article that Davis suggests that ¨Scientists at the NIH campus in Bethesda, Md. ...teenage years and isn't fully mature until age 25.¨ (¨Is 16 too¨). This is saying that people should not be able to drive, drink, move out of their parents house because your brain is not fully developed. They should move out while their brain is still growing. The reason why is at 18 it is easier to learn then at 25 because their brain is still growing you can still mold it so they can still learn faster than a 25 person can learn, you cant teach an old dog new tricks. Also I get it that when you are with friends you are more likely 50% to do something not

In Paul Thompson’s, “Startling Finds on Teens’ Brains” he writes, “The biggest surprise in recent teen-brain research is the finding a mass loss of brain tissue occurs in the teen years.” Later in the article Thompson explains the parts of the brain affected by this tissue loss, “frontal lobes, which inhibit our violent passions, rash decisions, and regulate our emotion.” These are vital parts of the brain for decision making and how we thoroughly process thought. Also, throughout a child’s life different parts of the brain are developing and changing at different moments in time. As children develop how are we supposed to keep track of something that is changing rapidly and not even fully understand the developed adult brain. Even though a juvenile might have an idea of the heinous crime they commit this does not mean they had fully thought through the consequences nor the full extent of the bad they have

There is ample evidence to demonstrate that through the normal ageing process alterations to the brain in structure and function are directly related to cognitive changes (Glisky, 2007). With an increasing ageing population strategies for prevention of disease and age related cognitive decline are necessary to improve quality of life and reduce the associated healthcare costs (Australian Government Productivity Commission [AGPC], 2013). Physical exercise is known to be crucial in maintaining physiological health; it can also be used as a means of neuroprotection and assist in modifiable risk factors for improved brain health and subsequent cognitive function. This review will critically analyse current research into the effects of exercise

As age increases, we can expect some loss of heart, lung, joint, and sexual functioning. Some loss of brain cells and mental efficiency is a normal part of

As aging is a stage of development that cannot prevented, the question of “can one’s aging be more successful than another?” is posed my many. Researchers continually consider the differences between aging successfully, and aging unsuccessfully. As researchers work to complete their studies, many find a reoccurring basis of successful aging. A basis of successful aging can be set including: physical health disease free, chronic illness free, mental health disease free, among many others. The only problem with this basis is the difference from person to person in terms of what makes aging successful. As individuals age, their mental state is a large predictor of how the person will age. A positive mental state about aging, will have a more positive effect on a person’s aging process. Many factors may influence the positivity of aging, such as negative aging stereotypes and discrimination because of older age. These negative aging stereotypes include but are not limited to: older adults are not as smart, older adults are angry all the time, older adults are bad drivers, older adults are isolated and never socialize. In adult aging and development, having a positive outlook on aging will lead to better mental and physical aging.

Aging! We all do it every day, but have you ever thought how it is going to affect the rest of your life or more importantly your career? Aging isn’t something that we get to choose if we participate in, however working is, and aging may affect that choice. Right now, I want you to think about the age of sixty-five. What words pop into your head when you think of someone sixty-five? I’d imagine some of the words you thought of were retired, old, fragile, slow, as well as many others. Those words right there all help to explain the many concerns that one’s employer may have when hiring someone that is of the older population. When we think of the older population in the work force we don’t necessarily think of positive things, instead we think of things. When we think of this population in the workforce we generally think of lower production rates and higher costs. These can create issues among the older population, as employers must consider all the possibilities when hiring someone. We know that more people in the older population are continuing to try to continue their careers, but why? How hard is it for them to continue? What changes have made it easier? How are the younger and middle aged populations perceiving them in the work place? This are only some of the many question surrounding the increase of aged workers.

The articles by Erikson et al., Gatz, Korol et al., and Draganski et al. explore the concept of increased physical activity and/or mental activity having effects on the cognitive function and development or deterioration of the brain as we age. Although I agree that physical exercise is critical in increasing cognitive function because of the health benefits it provides, as well as the increased blood flow and circulation throughout the body, I ultimately believe that a healthy brain is not achieved solely by physical exercise or mental exercise, but both. I think there is a link between physical and mental exercise, and that the combination of these two activities creates higher cognitive functioning of the mind as well as the body. The mind and body come together and meet to make an overall healthy individual.

We are creatures of habit. Whether they are good or bad, habits shape our actions and help us get through our days. As Charles Duhigg describes in his book, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, habits “emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort.” They are routines that automate parts of our behavior. Habits can be so firmly ingrained into our neural networks that we aren’t actually conscious of them, and we don’t need to put much thought to follow through them.