Andrew Lim and colleagues at Toronto University carried out tests on 3000 ‘older’ participants at different times of the year to assess cognitive functioning, measuring thinking and concentration skills, as well as physiological tests to look for early signs of Alzheimer’s disease.
The outcome was that people who tested in Summer and early Autumn obtained significantly higher scores, than those tested in Winter and Spring.
“There may be value in increasing dementia-related clinical resources in the winter and early spring when symptoms are likely to be most pronounced,” the authors say. “By shedding light on the mechanisms underlying the seasonal improvement in cognition in the summer and early fall, these findings also open the door to new avenues of treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.” News-Medical.net
Taking good care of yourself – resting, eating healthily, taking regular exercise and talking to your GP if you suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder – can all help combat this annual dip in cognitive ability, to a limited extent.
There are two types of intelligence to think about in this context: Crystallised and Fluid intelligence. These theories were proposed by Psychologist Raymond Cattell in 1943, pictured below.
Crystallised intelligence – the ability to use learned knowledge and experience- remains constant throughout your life and while useful, it is not the most powerful way to increase your cognitive ability.
Fluid intelligence on the other hand, declines as we age, until we exercise it. This is the ability to use what you already know and have recently learnt to solve new problems in new settings – for example, to negotiate the underground system in a city you have never been to before.
Fluid intelligence decreases as we age, while Crystallised intelligence increases as we age.
The suggestions by many in this field of psychology suggest, to increase your ability to become smarter you should:
learn a new skill each day.
perhaps learn to juggle.
get to a new location without satnav.
walk along a road you are not familiar with.
The list is endless….
late to comment… but I’m wondering what constitutes “old” these days!?!
Mmm, have to think about an acceptable age bracket. How about we just say you are only as old as you feel?! 🙂
That’s what my 55-year-old hubby says – and then pronounces himself to feel like he’s “forever 18” – I on the other hand am officially only a couple of years younger but I feel “100”!! 🤣
I am 91 but still think in my mind, I am 21 years young!
Way to go!! I just checked out your website and I’m guessing that staying curious and your perpetual learning is keeping you young! Stay the course my friend, you put my young-old bones to shame! 🙂
Hello, I’ve reread this a few times, it’s rather fascinating.
I’m wondering if there is a “known” point where crystallised and fluid cross?
I mean, from birth we probably begin to use both, such as learning that our rattle falling out of the cot results in a parent rushing to retrieve – we can then deliberately use this action latter as an “attention getter.”
But at what ages does fluid start to decline?
And why?
Would be interesting to understand more around this.
I’m also a little puzzled, if: “the ability to use what you already know” is the definition of fluid, how is that different from: “the ability to use learned knowledge” – the definition of crystallised?
In regard to becoming smarter – which intelligence are we strengthening?
Which one, if any,directly relates to improving memory?
This article has received 65 likes – maybe most are; ahem: “Smarter” than I, so it seems this is a topic of interest . Given that you have a skill for demystifying the complex, maybe this is an article that could be explored further?
Beautifully written! Yes we should take care of ourselves ☺️ well shared 💐
Good point, we should take more care of ourselves. 🙂