Default network brain activity, unique to humans, gives us our mind for stories, especially our own life story. In surprising ways, this high-energy brain activity can slow down the rate at which your brain ages.
Conversely, inflammation can derail the default network and hasten the brain’s aging process. When this happens, the brain may age faster than the rest of the body.
THE BRAIN CAN AGE FASTER THAN THE BODY
Let’s begin with a story that illustrates how the brain can age too fast. My husband Peter was a hospice volunteer for about 10 years. One of his many patients was John, who was in his 90’s, had Alzheimer’s, and lived in a memory care facility. John had a middle-aged son in the area who would not come to visit.
Peter visited John once a week for 3 hours to give John “the gift of being present,” as he called it. During these visits, John was friendly and talkative. Peter would ask him the most basic questions, such as “Where did you grow up?” and “What was your work?” John never knew the answer, but he was always quick with a clever response, such as “That’s a good question,” or “You sure stumped me with that one,” or “I’ll have to think about that, ask me later.”
Sometimes, John would spontaneously ramble on about past setbacks, such as crop failures or money problems. All he seemed to remember about his past was what went wrong.
John really wanted to live to his 95th birthday—and he did! The care center had a little party for him, which I attended. John was very excited by all the festivities: the cake, the decorations, the attendees. What a wide grin he had that day. He seemed like a kind, happy fellow. He died a few days after celebrating his 95th birthday.
INFLAMMATION MAKES THE BRAIN AGE TOO FAST
John’s body aged very well, but his brain aged too fast. In other words, his lifespan exceeded brainspan. What happened? How was John able to live so long and well physically, and connect with other people just fine, but lose his memories and story?
No one really knows how or why this happens, but some 50 years of research have uncovered important clues. A key factor in the aging process is “inflammaging,” chronic inflammation that drives the aging process and enables age-related diseases. Inflammaging can affect the brain and body differently. In John’s case, inflammaging was only a campfire in his body, but a wildfire in his brain.
The default network is the brain’s manager of personal memories and the autobiographical self—that part of us that can understand our life experiences as “my story.” Default network brain activity is implicated in the toxic inflammaging that makes the brain age too fast. Stress hormones such as cortisol are a key driver of inflammaging wildfire in the brain.
COHERENT LIFE NARRATIVE SLOWS DOWN THE BRAIN’S AGING
Mental health professionals recommend that everyone have a “coherent life narrative” for a healthy mind. This positive, methodical understanding of one’s own life diffuses stress hormones in the brain and improves the default network.
However, the past is not where it’s at: look ahead! The best way to help your default network do its job is to keep adding to your story. Prepare to build your life story in meaningful ways with these three easy steps:
- Create a success narrative.
Write down what you have done, decade by decade, that makes your feel good about yourself and the life that you have lived. It is important to focus on what was meaningful to you from a personal perspective, rather than from the perspective of other people or society. Negative life events can be reframed as learning experiences so they do not poison your story.
2. Assess your unfinished business.
If you were to die suddenly, would you have any regrets about what you did not get to do in your life? Focus on active experiences, such as writing a book, learning a skill, or volunteering. Write down your top three unfulfilled hopes, and circle the one that is most important. Determine to make this part of your success narrative in the future.
- Make a personal story plan.
Consider an action that you can take to realize your unfulfilled dream. Decide what you will do, where, when, with whom, and what your desired outcome is. If you would like to explore your story more, you could take an autobiographical writing class, in person or online.
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted us to slow down and be thankful for our health and lives. Use this time to intentionally shape your next chapter. The world around you is overflowing with opportunities to build your life story and slow down your brain’s aging. Get started today and make your default network happy!
To learn more about the default network, see Better with Age: The Ultimate Guide to Brain Training by Phyllis Strupp.