Attention and Concentration Improve with Age

Because of lifelong training... Can be used to delay aging disorders like Alzheimer's

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[Asia Economy Senior Reporter Jinsoo Lee] It is commonly believed that intellectual abilities decline with age.

However, a recent paper published by a joint research team from the United States and Portugal in the online scientific journal Nature Human Behaviour suggested that core mental abilities such as concentration and attention can actually improve with aging.

These core brain functions enhance important cognitive aspects such as memory, self-control, decision-making, as well as spatial orientation, mathematical and language skills, and reading.

Michael Ullman, a professor of neuroscience at Georgetown University in Washington, USA, who participated in the study, described the results as "surprising" and said, "They will have a significant impact on how we view aging."

It has been commonly thought that attention and executive function?the ability to regulate and control one's own behavior?decline with age. However, some small-scale studies have questioned this assumption.

Professor Ullman explained, "In this large-scale study, these abilities were found to actually improve with age," adding, "This is because we continue to train and practice these abilities throughout our lives."

He further noted, "With more in-depth research, these findings could be used as a means to prevent brain function decline or disorders such as Alzheimer's disease that come with aging."

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The joint research team examined three aspects of attention and cognitive control (the ability to actively and flexibly process surrounding information for goal-directed behavior in changing environments) in 702 volunteers aged 58 to 98. This age range was specifically focused on because it is when the greatest changes in cognitive abilities occur alongside aging.

The three aspects studied were arousal response, orienting response, and executive inhibition within brain networks. Each response has distinct characteristics and involves different brain regions, neurochemicals, and genes.

Arousal refers to a heightened state of alertness and readiness to respond to incoming information. Orienting is the focusing of brain resources on a specific spatial location. Executive inhibition suppresses distracting or conflicting information to help concentrate on what is important.

Jo?o Ber?ssimo, an assistant professor teaching psycholinguistics at the University of Lisbon, Portugal, explained, "When driving and approaching an intersection, the arousal response increases alertness levels," adding, "Meanwhile, the orienting response occurs when attention is focused on unexpected movements of people or objects, like pedestrians." Executive function helps the driver avoid distractions such as birds or outdoor billboards and maintain focus on driving.

The study found that only arousal ability declines with age. Orienting response and executive inhibition were shown to actually improve.

The researchers are confident that attention and concentration can be enhanced through lifelong training, which is sufficient to overcome inevitable natural decline.

On the other hand, arousal ability decreases with age because basic alertness and readiness cannot be raised through training.

Assistant Professor Ber?ssimo emphasized that the large-scale nature of this study makes the results "reliable" and "widely applicable."

Professor Ullman concluded, "We need to change our perspective on the impact of aging on the mind," predicting that "this could lead to clinical improvements for aging-related disorders such as Alzheimer's disease."