How Middle Age Makes You Different: Life On The Other Side
If you look at the life expectancy calculators I’m just a bit past the halfway mark in my life (yes, those actuaries give me a lifespan of 95–98 years!). At fifty-one I’m firmly in middle age. My children who range from 29 to 15 make it clear I’m not young. But to my nearly 80 year-old parents I’m hardly old.
Life on the other side of that midway point is a transition, but it brings with it a certain freedom that is difficult to achieve earlier.
Researchers have confirmed that middle-aged brains are actually different from those of younger adults. And it’s not as simple as we all might assume — middle-aged adults aren’t just in some early stage of decline. In certain ways we’re simply different. Adults in middle age use different parts of their brains, and they “become calmer and less neurotic” (source: Psychology Today). Researchers have found that older adults focus more on positive information. Their amygdala responds less to negative stimuli and has a better…
