Nautilus

Here’s Where Our Minds Sharpen in Old Age

There are ways we get smarter with age, even in the domain of fluid intelligence.Photo Illustration by meboonstudio / Shutterstock

any have noted that the big contenders in the last two American presidential elections were well into their 70s, raising questions of the mental capacity, going forward, of these potential leaders. “Starting after middle age, say around 60 or so, memory and other abilities decline,” Dilip Jeste, professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at

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