The Myth of the Midlife Crisis

The Myth of the Midlife Crisis is an article that was published by Gene Cohen who is founding director of the Center on Aging, Health and Humanities at George Washington University Medical Center. The purpose of this article was to bring to light the fact that the theory by which people over age 50 are no longer educable is not a credible theory; in other words the article was an important study which would help find out if the midlife is a myth or a fact.

In fact, Dr. Cohen, in his psychological development in the second half life's study, has shown that an old brain is every bit as capable as a young brain at making connections between nerve cells. This study has also recognized while it is true that aging people lose brain cells, but the myth that they lose thousands that cannot be replaced is simply a myth. That is why Dr. Cohen says the older you are, the wiser and more flexible will be your aging brain. The research ended with a list of several types of activities which are clearly presented in the chapter 15 of the textbook and that can help boost the power of the aging brain such as exercise physically, exercise mentally, pick challenging leisure activities, achieve mastery, and establish strong social networks. This article is an excellent tool to help us understand how your brain is able to function during the middle age.

References

Gene Cohen, "The Myth of the Middle Crisis", Newsweek, January 2006

John W Santrock, Life-Span Development, 12th Edition, Published by McGraw-Hill, NY 2009 p. 500-539