Image by Valeria Nikitina for Unsplash
“If it makes you happy,” Sheryl Crow sang, “then why the hell are you so sad?”
Good question, Sheryl. I wish I knew the answer. Because I’ve had a bad case of the sads for weeks, for no obvious reason.
Or maybe a better descriptor is the blahs. Not much catches my interest or arouses my curiosity. This is a distinct problem for someone trying to come up with something fresh to write about every week. Nothing I read grabs me. No movies appeal to me. No books demand that I read them. Spring is bringing more pleasant days, perfect for a walk, but why bother?
Last week, I got a clue to what may be at the root of this pervasive downer. Linda Melone, who writes about fitness and Health at midlife, wrote a compelling piece about her own low mood in which she states, “I discovered that dopamine – the brain chemical that lights up when we feel rewarded – is fading into the sunset. It’s not gone completely, but is no longer at the robust levels of my younger years.”
Dopamine! Who knew?
Latching onto this important clue, I took a deep dive down my own personal rabbit hole and returned to ground level with more surprises. It’s not just dopamine, it’s a whole set of changes in brain chemistry, brain mass, and brain function. They’re a normal facet of Aging – not that that’s any consolation.
It turns out our brains begin to shrink in our 30s. The shrinkage accelerates by the time we reach our 60s. But no one tells us this is happening. We don’t get a memo. It happens so gradually that we scarcely notice. Aging skin is obvious. Aging brain happens on the QT.
But eventually, we observe symptoms. We can’t remember names. We take longer to process information. We find it harder to pay attention. We can’t multitask as we used to. None of these symptoms is a precursor to dementia – they’re all normal byproducts of aging.
The brain is constantly changing as we grow and develop. Neuroscientists at the University of Cambridge have concluded that the human brain goes through five major epochs over a lifetime. The childhood brain begins at birth and concludes about age 9. The adolescent brain continues to grow while restructuring the internal networks. It ends about age 32 (!), when the adult brain takes over and compartmentalizes more. At 66 the aging brain sees reduced connectivity. Around age 83, the late aging brain is marked by a further decline in whole brain connectivity, with more reliance on particular regions.
Clearly many things have been happening inside our skulls, unseen and unannounced, to create changes. As areas of our brain shrink in volume, the neurons retract their dendrites, which receive electrical signals, and the neurons begin to lose their connections to other neurons. New neurons are still being created, but not fast enough to make up for the losses of old neurons. Meanwhile the brain is generating fewer messenger chemicals, such as serotonin and dopamine.
Ah, yes, dopamine. Which, it turns out, does a lot more than trigger smiles. It also plays roles in motivation and movement, in learning and cognitive flexibility, in balance and motor coordination. This sets the stage for falls. Also, the less dopamine we receive, the harder it is to get excited about anything – and the more dopamine we seek to feel much of anything. (And don’t think the designers of social media haven’t considered that. These media are designed to be as addictive as Las Vegas slot machines.)
On a positive note, older brains get more adept at certain things, studies have found. Among them, a greater depth and breadth of knowledge, and a better understanding of what words mean. For what that’s worth.
Can we turn back the clock and reverse aging between our ears? Well, maybe, if we work really hard. Scientists at McGill University found that doing rigorous mental exercises for 30 minutes daily over 10 weeks increased levels of one chemical messenger by 2.3%. This can offset the average 2.5% decrease per decade.
Aside from that, it’s time to follow the advice of a famous French police captain in Casablanca: “Round up the usual suspects.”
Eat nutritious meals.
Get sunlight.
Get enough quality Sleep.
Meditate.
Cultivate social connections.
Be creative.
Challenge your mind regularly.
Manage Stress.
Learn new things.
Keep your blood pressure in check.
Each of these activities can be pleasurable and therefore good candidates to stimulate those deficient dopamine droppers.
And for the sake of all that is holy, don’t let social media drain your batteries! Our brains need all the juice we can generate.
