Tuning into the Big Picture: Advantages of Mature Minds

Do you see the big picture or are you distracted by details? Interestingly, the aging process improves certain abilities. Researchers from McMaster University discovered that older people tend to grasp the big picture faster than younger counterparts. Aging changes the way we see the world...

What's really exciting is that as we age the ability of one brain cell to inhibit another lessens. While younger folks easily find an object hidden amongst clutter, they have a hard time tuning into the clutter itself. "As we grow older, Patrick Bennett, Canada Research Chair at McMaster says, "it becomes harder to concentrate on one thing and ignore everything else." Past research revealed this to be true in cognition and speech, and now this study affirms the same in vision.

The researchers think the visual effect is due to "changes in the effectiveness of inhibitory neurotransmitters in the brain." These neurotransmitters modify the way in which brain cells talk to each other. Some present barriers and others enhance conversations. So what does that mean to you?



Serotonin's a neurotransmitter that plays a very important role in a wide rage of brain functions. In addition to mood control, it helps regulate sleep, perception of pain, body temperature, blood pressure and hormonal activity. Dr. Ellen Weber offers some tactics to increase serotonin:

• Stop to smell the coffee brewing
• Listen to your favorite music on your way to work
• Laugh at everything today -- especially at yourself
• Look at art around you as the artist might enjoy it
• Go for a walk at lunch
• Invite an old friend for dinner
• Give away one of your most successful strategies to a fellow worker
• Stretch...move...breathe deeply
• Remember a time when you were good to you - and repeat it
• Snack on trail mix or something for good energy
• Tell a story or invite one from a younger, less-confident worker
• Plan one thing you most enjoy to do today after work

On the other hand here are some of the things that inhibit peak performance of neurotransmitters:

• Depression
• Drinking
• Drugs
• Oxygen deprivation
• Smoking
• Stress
• Unchallenging environments

Organizations with leaders who see the big picture, alongside younger ones who focus on details, draw from the best of both perspectives. That ups the ante for incredible outcomes.

How will you keep your noodle sparking through a lifetime?