This is not good news. If this data are valid, it means that our belief that we are “safe” until age 60 (mostly from the Washington State studies) is incorrect- and that mental decline begins at age 45. So, those brain exercises you were going to start in a few years- better start them now.
Dr. Grayden Solman, Allan Cheyne and Daniel Smilek from the University of Waterloo (Canada) published “Found and missed: Failing to recognize a search target despite moving it” in Cognition. They describe what they term an “unpacking” experience- our ability to search and find an object. The issue is that while searching for an item, we often have already found the object we seek- we just don’t realize it’s in our grasp. It seems that our various executive functions are all operating at different speeds- and our perception, our ability to coalesce this knowledge, is not able to keep pace.
I am sure you have seen these ads: “The IRS claimed I owed $ 200,000, but I settled the deal for only $ 12,000. You can get the same results if you hire TaxFixersRUs.” The problem with this ad- it’s factually correct, but, in practice, full of more cow chips than you would find in an active feedlot.
Are you sitting down? This is going to blow you away. Because it will mean that paralyzed folks now have REAL hope of walking again.
We’ve found that feeding the brain is critical to treating traumatic brain injury. (Reported here.) But, the opposite- cutting out foods- is the right preparation for some surgery.
When I turned 50, my friend told me to consider taking an aspirin tablet every day. (Before you react crazily, I should remind you that my friend IS my doctor.) He suggested this routine because aspirin tends to ‘thin the blood’, rendering it more difficult for blood to clot and, therefore, block blood flow to the heart or brain. (Aspirin inactivates platelet cyclooxygenase; this precludes them from producing thomboxane A2. Thromboxane, in turn, is a vasoconstrictor and promotes platelet aggregation. Aspirin also has anti-inflamatory and vasodilation effects.)
So, I am breaking into my queue. For a post unlike most of the ones I normally provide. Because it’s been on my mind.
The question of what to do about the economy is foremost in our minds. Greece must slash its deficit and increase its tax revenue. (Oh, I know, if it increases its tax revenue, the deficit will decrease- but in Greece’s case, that is not what is being discussed.) In America, the Republicans want spending decreased, the Democrats want taxes increased on the ‘rich’- those whose taxable income exceeds $250K or $ 1 million. The Democratic position is that we are still not growing enough jobs- and while private industry is hiring, our states are slashing jobs at an enormous rate. The Republicans feel that tax increases on the rich will stop them from hiring.
I wrote about Milliken & Company the other day- a great American company, which managed to grow and innovate due in a large part to its CEO. There are other companies like that. Corning under the Houghton’s – that managed to convert itself from a glass company- with the ubiquitous Corningware- into a high tech powerhouse that specializes in medical equipment and fibre-optics, among others. (Thanks for the opportunity, Corning.) But today, I will discuss another company, one that has been having a race with the mythical phoenix.
We know that manufacturing jobs are being exported. But, now the R&D is being exported, too. Not only because the US is not producing fantastic scientific and engineering talent, but to afford corporations the ability to tailor their products to the overseas markets…plus, this curries favor with foreign governments by opening R&D centers in their lands. 
The US National Science Board (part of the National Science Foundation) reportedthat US multinationals have grown their R&D employment tallies overseas- with 85% of all new jobs being located outside the US. Right now, the total employment in US R&D activities is 73% of the total overall (down from 84% in 2004). Before you jump up and down, consider this fact- more than ½ of the engineering degrees being awarded are from Asia (56% in 2008) and only 4% graduate from the US- and that does not include the fact that more than ½ the PhD degrees granted in the US are awarded to foreign students (57%).
