“Cognitive well being is [your] skill to assume clearly, study, and bear in mind,” explains Julie Rowin, M.D., FAAN, DABMA, integrative neurologist at Verde Valley Naturopathic Drugs.
This features a vary of vital mind features, resembling consideration, reasoning, response time, and reminiscence. It additionally consists of your skill to course of info, navigate relationships, and develop plans and conclusions, provides Rowin.
Nonetheless, as with all elements of the physique, the mind (and due to this fact, cognitive well-being) naturally modifications as you age. For starters, neurons (nerve cells) shrink over time, which reduces grey matter within the mind.
Grey matter is the tissue concerned in each day cognitive functioning. Neurogenesis, or the manufacturing of recent nerve cells, additionally slows down later in life, which may in the end influence optimum cognition.
These modifications are a standard a part of getting older, which means everybody experiences them to a point as they age. “Some older people might discover that they’re not as quick as youthful adults on duties that require studying and reminiscence,” Rowin explains.
Different cognitive features resembling consideration and decision-making may also shift with age.