In times when a word is stubbornly stuck on the tip of my tongue, or when I accidentally call my neighbor Steve when his name if Jack, I seriously wish I were a chimp!
Especially since I found out that chimp brains do not age the same way as human brains do.
According to a study published by Chet Sherwood of The George Washington University, humans are paying a price for evolution - i.e. brain shrinkage. Sherwood and his team set about to determine whether chimps' brains also experience noticeable aging. Using MRI to measure various brain areas in groups of humans from age 22 to 88 and chimpanzees from age 10 to 51, the scientists discovered that chimpanzee brains age with much less degeneration than human brains do.
Sherwood's conclusion is that "the high energy cost of a large brain in humans leads to more wear and tear that cannot be easily repaired because most neurons are not renewed", thereby making human brains more vulnerable to degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.
Read: Aging Brains Are Different in Humans and Chimpanzees in ScienceDaily for more information.
Check this link to see comparative brain scans of humans and chimpanzees.
If you are getting worried about brain atrophy, you might as well start taking care of your brain fitness. There are some exercises (I am told) that you and I can do to maintain, if not improve, our mental abilities.
You may want to check this out "Your Brain, Just Brighter". If that doesn't do the trick, be sure to ingest a lot of cod liver oil...
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