Secrets of the grown-up brain

This is the title of a wonderful book that I have been reading lately and recommending to all my older friends and colleagues. Written by Barbara Strauch, the sub-title is "the surprising talents of the middle-aged mind" and what a comfort it is. Yes, you may forget the name of your best friend's daughter or walk into the kitchen without remembering why you went there, but your middle-aged mind is actually functioning at the top of its life-time game. Strauch details new research that reveals that the middle-aged brain is about solutions rather than facts, and is synergistic rather than analytic, giving the lie to the widely held belief that a brain during midlife is simply a young brain closing down. The middle-aged brain is slower but better, able to make decisions based on complex variables rather than black-and-white factoids. Strauch reveals that mid-life crisis and empty nest syndrome are bunkum and that the brain can grow new cells. So there, all you young whippersnappers! I get so annoyed at those books labelled "for the over-fifties" as if the day after your fiftieth birthday, you suddenly turn into a brainless zombie with a head full of custard, incapable of functioning in your world and good only for drooling by the fire.