The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain by Barbara Strauch

Barbara Strauch's The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind describes the properties of a middle aged brain that make it different than a person in their 20's. The mature brain is not able to focus on one topic, which causes many to fail to retrieve an item in another room because we forgot what we were looking for. The older brain also has difficulty remembering names often necessitating a mental trip through the alphabet or a search for a middle vowel sound that will release the name from the tip of the tongue.

The diffuse method of thinking allows the mature brain to increase creativity with many more experience with the potential for novel links. This wealth of experience and connections allows the grown up brain to be "... smarter,   calmer, wiser, and happier..." than the earlier version of ourselves.

The author points to research indicating that the mature brain is still capable of producing new neurons and new connections. Aerobic exercise in lab animals and humans stimulates the production of new cells in the dentate gyrus (Wikipedia) an area in the brain's hippocampus crucial for creating new memories. 

The evidence for diet impacting the dentate gyrus is less well supportive. Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory chemicals in blueberries and other dark fruits, colored vegetables and beans may promote brain health. The mildly toxic effects of resveratrol in red wine and other fruits may stimulate the production of brain derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) which is important in stimulating brain repair. The unanswered questions remain can we ingest enough of these chemicals in our diet to have any effect and what is the optimum dose?

Factors that adversely impact brain health include: obesity, elevated blood glucose levels (type 2 diabetes), high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Individuals who have a more varied and positive social network do better than individuals who are or choose to be isolated. The author suggests that navigating a social network is a complex task for the brain and keeps it fit.

These recommendations cross over into the Blue Zones research and its association to longevity. In some cases items that improved brain health did not improve longevity but did improve the quality of the life lived.

The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain - 17 min. 

Middle Aged Brains are Awesome - 5 min. 

Optimizing brain health - 8 min.