McCain, Obama, and Some Painful Truths About Aging
When U.S. presidential candidate John McCain had a birthday recently, television talk-show host Jay Leno told McCain that he had planned to get him a birthday cake but that the local fire chief had objected, commenting, "That many candles?"
Indeed, 72-year-old McCain is the oldest person in U.S. history to run for the presidency, and his opponent, 46-year-old Barack Obama, once accused McCain of "losing his bearings," a polite way of saying that McCain is becoming senile. McCain, in turn, sometimes refers to Obama as "that young man with very little experience."
The age issue is one of many that will help decide the upcoming election. What's the truth about it? How much difference does age actually make in competent leadership? Does cognitive ability really decline as we age, and, if so, by how much?
The American public is predictably divided on this issue. Some believe that Obama is indeed too young to assume such high office, even though John F. Kennedy was a mere 43 when he became president. Others insist that McCain is just too old, noting that President Ronald Reagan showed clear signs of Alzheimer's disease during his second term in office, when he was in his late 70s. Barely three years out of office, Reagan's cognitive impairment had become severe.
At 55, having been a research psychologist for 30 years now, I decided to take a dispassionate look at these issues. The process proved to be painful in some respects, particularly when I took an honest look at my own declining abilities. But I have long believed that knowing is better than not knowing, no matter what the pain. And when it comes to the issue of cognitive decline, knowing might also be the best defense.
Here, in brief summary form, is what relevant research says about the usual course of cognitive abilities as we age.
First, let's consider a rather basic ability: learning. Most middle-aged people are aware that their elderly parents are mystified by the latest DVD players, PDAs, and iPods -- and that the quickest way to solve a computer problem is to ask a teenager, or even a child. Do you see the trend here? Indeed, research shows unequivocally that our ability to learn new things peaks during our teen years and declines steadily thereafter. One illustrative study, conducted by Harry Braun and Richard Geiselhart a half-century ago, even showed that classical conditioning -- that most basic of learning processes first studied by Ivan Pavlov in the early 1900s with dogs -- barely occurs at all in elderly humans.
Our ability to acquire new knowledge declines in part because of a decline in most basic memory functions. The deterioration of memory is best illustrated by looking at some old research on what researchers call "incidental" memory -- remembering that occurs automatically and without effort. Mnemonic strategies mastered as we get older can mask memory's decline; when we look at what is remembered accidentally, we get a clearer picture.
Raymond Willoughby of Clark University first studied this phenomenon in 1929. He had people copy pairs of digits and symbols and then -- without first having told his subjects that he was going to do so -- later asked them to recall which symbol had been paired with each digit. Performance on this task improved from childhood to about age 13 and then declined thereafter, and old subjects performed more poorly on this task than children did. Incidental memory was also studied in a simple but ingenious study conducted by Harold E. Jones and his colleagues in which researchers asked people emerging from a cinema to give details about the film they had just seen. Teens and people in their early twenties performed best -- and elderly people could barely remember the name of the movie without looking up at the marquis. As you age, it becomes increasingly difficult to remember things unless you make a concerted effort.
The pattern is the same on classic tests of intelligence -- tests that measure basic reasoning ability, certainly an important ability for a nation's leaders. You may have heard that "IQ" remains relatively stable throughout life, and indeed it does. That's because IQ is a quotient ("Intelligence Quotient") -- a relative measure that expresses your test score in relation to test scores of people your own age. Your IQ stays roughly the same because you stay in roughly the same place with respect to your cohort.
When you look at raw scores, however -- your actual test score before it's expressed in relative terms -- the pattern is distressing. On both the traditional intelligence tests developed by David Wechsler and the more culture-free types of tests developed by J.C. Raven and others, raw scores peak between ages 13 and 15 and decline thereafter. As Wechsler put it, after age 14, increases in mental age in succeeding half-year scores "are so small as to make them unreliable," and the highest mental age we can achieve is fifteen and a half. In other words, IQ, the relative measure, is stable only because virtually everyone in your cohort is deteriorating at about the same rate.
Findings from studies of IQ are consistent with research conducted by Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget and his colleagues and students. Piaget found that the highest level of reasoning, which he called "formal operational thinking," is normally achieved by age 14 or 15 -- if it is ever achieved at all.
You may also have heard that brain size is a poor predictor of intelligence. That's true when you compare species, and this also applies to genders (no one has ever figured out what human males use all that extra brain mass for). But several studies conducted over the past decade or so show that when it comes to individuals, brain size is in fact an excellent predictor of a variety of cognitive abilities. Does brain size follow the pattern we see with intelligence and memory? Indeed it does. A recent MRI study conduced by Eric Courchesne and his colleagues at the University of California San Diego shows that brain size in humans peaks at about age 14 and declines gradually thereafter. By the time a man--such as candidate McCain -- is 70, his brain has shrunk to the size it was when he was about 3. This pattern occurs both for overall brain volume and for the all-important gray matter that contains signaling neurons.
Although not central to the cognition issue, I would be remiss in failing to point out that most of our perceptual and motor capabilities also fit this disturbing pattern: our visual acuity, overall hearing ability, ability to discriminate speech sounds (important during delicate meetings of state), touch sensitivity, and so on. Elderly people sometimes, ahem, face odor challenges because--according to a study conducted in the 1980s -- they lose much of their sense of smell in their 70s and 80s. More to the point, reaction time -- our ability to respond swiftly to sudden events, which is undoubtedly an important competency for leaders -- also follows this pattern. We react to sudden stimuli most quickly in our teens and twenties and quite slowly in old age. (A new study by George Bartzokis and his colleagues at UCLA suggests that some fine motor abilities, such as finger-tapping speed, don't start declining until age 40, but this is more relevant to pianists than presidents.)
Is the news all bad? Fortunately not. Research suggests that we do become "wiser" as we get older, meaning that we can make especially good decisions in areas where we have accumulated a great deal of specialized knowledge -- as long as we don't need to acquire a great deal of new knowledge quickly, that is. In a static world, wisdom has great value, but in a rapidly changing one, it's prudent for the old to make way for the young.
As for the candidates, Obama, as brilliant as he appears to be, has likely started having trouble finding his keys, and McCain, his courage notwithstanding, is probably little more than a ghost of his former cognitive self.
This article originally appeared in the London Times on October 25, 2008.
Epstein is a visiting scholar at the University of California San Diego and the former editor-in-chief of Psychology Today magazine. His latest books are The Case Against Adolescence: Rediscovering the Adult in Every Teen and Parsing the Turing Test: Philosophical and Methodological Issues in the Quest for the Thinking Computer.
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I can picture it now:
Easter, 2009. The annual White House Easter Egg Hunt is in full swing. Children from all over America are wearing their Sunday best as they play and hunt for eggs on the White House lawn.
John McCain emerges from the White House, shakes his fist and yells, "Get off my lawn!"
Thank Jeebus, it was only a nightmare.
too funny.....
HA HA HA!
Your points are well taken.
The problem is: McCain/Palin supporters,many hardcore supporters, believe that humans and dinosaurs co-existed, and that the earth is only 6,000 years old.
How can you convince these people of any results from scientific studies?
A futile task!
The fact is, if you know how to "program" your own mind to do what you want it to do, you can, in fact, overcome most of the really rather minor deteriorations of age. The people who don't do this, like McCain, suffer the avoidable consequences.
I don't know the ins and outs of my cell phone terribly well but that's just because I don't want to take the time or trouble to learn them, not because I can't if I put my mind to it. And I work IN the computer industry. But being able to program (or re-program) your own mind requires a certain degree of introspection, as well as keeping an active mind and being able to really "think" (logically, that is) in the first place. That's McCain's aging jet-jock failure.
This is the whole problem with sweeping generalizations of the type that are in this article. Some people stay sharp into their nineties and I fully intend to be one. A combination of taking care of your health through exercise, diet, and supplements, plus remaining MENTALLY active will get you there. Everyone (unlike the basic assumption behind this article, unfortunately) is not identical.
Warren Buffet, the man that Obama will look to to lead our economy out of its present mess, turned 78 on August 30th.
Three points
Neither Obama or Buffet ever said it would be Buffet to lead our economy out of the present mess... Buffet would at least be a senior advisor, but there would be many other advisors as well
Not everyone ages the same... most people at Buffet's age or younger are far worse off cognitively than Buffet. I am sure Buffet is not as sharp as he was, but has more than proven that he is astute and formidable.
As discussed in the article, wisdom comes into play... the fundamentals of economic analysis are pretty much intact even with the expanded financial instruments and interconnection.
Buffet still drives his own car, pumps his own gas, gets his own McD's drive-thru, and ties his own shoes...
Senator McCain denies any problems with memory loss. He says he can't remember the last time he forgot something.
Ba Dump Bump!
DeJa Vue Nancy standing next to Ronnie at every public appearance, head boweed, repeating questions he couldn't hear and spoon feeding answers he couldn't remember..
Please give us a discussion on the common coping techniques used to coverup Alzheimers disease -
Yesterday's observation of nuclear power disintegrates into a " blah,blah,blah" answer.Typ
the article omits any discussion regarding the statistical probability and symptomology of any one of the myriad forms of dementia likely to affect a 72 year old.
As caregiver to a victim of Picks Disease (frontal lobe atrophy dementia) I can attest that these diseases are more than just decreased memory function diseases, and that the onset can occur in the 50's and 60's and slowly decline from there.
One of the most marked symptoms is anger = outbursts of rage reacting to the frustration of being unable to comprehend or carry out what were once simple tasks/.
Running for President, in my opinion, involves Image too. And this is not his physical appearance but what comes out of his mouth. He is just not " likeable". If " youthful" counts as presenting wonderful ideas and new solutions, McCain is just not able to do this.
McCain's image is not " youthful". He appears to have read all of his speechs. He does not respond to questions that do not include GOP talking points. When he attempts to speak from memory, it winds up to be a logical error.
Just look how he dawdled around during the debate.
HA HA HA - I just saw a repeat of the SNL skit where Darrell Hammond is walking around in front of the camera.
Too funny!
The american people would be better served if McCain enjoy his golden years in a rocking chair each day in front of one of of his seven houses. The White House, definitely, is no place for a rocking chair.
Maybe elections can't be easily stolen after all....oth
Unfortunately, elections CAN be easily stolen. The team of Diebold and Rove is all but unbeatable. IF (and I emphasize IF), the Democrats really want to KEEP the election they have won (third of three), they will somehow have to neutralize the criminals who intend to steal the election right out from under their unsuspicious noses. The Pundits on November 5 will try to "Explain" how McCain "Won," but HE knows already! Rovw has guaranteed that he (and the vote-flipping machines) will deliver again. IF 2004 is any criterion, the Democrats will lie down and watch the Republicans theft machine walk off with another election!
I guess that JFK didn't get that memo.
JFK had a very famous rocking chair.
The beginning was really the partys responsibility, that McCain throw his hat in the ring. I was shocked, that given his inability to control his emotional responses the party would throw him under the bus. By that I mean through know fault of his own, his body is aging, perhalps a little faster, because of his suffering in Viet Nam. Brutal beatings off and on for 5 yrs takes its toll. Can he make the long haul? Gosh I am suprised he is mobile, not out of breath, and thinking clearly. I am 72 and I dont have anything like his stamina. Can a younger Pres. have as much wisdom, I doubt that. But the demands of his office, makes young men go grey in a quick hurry, whats it going to do, to him. Yes, age is a real problem. God is in charge, and I give you my evaluations.
Its called good genes. McCain hit the genetic lottery.
McCain's age is only part of the puzzle. An article I read concerned the possibility of McCain suffering TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) during his time as a POW. He admits to being knocked unconscious after numerous beatings. It is quite possible that he sustained concussions that may well account for his temper and erratic behavior in his life onwards. With the potential return of the melonoma as an additional concern, he simply is too risky to have in the White House. As for Palin, she isn't the real issue. It's the people who would advise her that I worry about.
"As for Palin, she isn't the real issue." ???
Oh YES she is!
I was gonna make a comment but I forget what I was gonna say.....
LOL
Better information exists. A recent UCLA study on middle aged brains:
UCLA scientists have found that for computer-savvy middle-aged and older adults, searching the Internet triggers key centers in the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning. The findings demonstrate that Web search activity may help stimulate and possibly improve brain function.
.. the Web-savvy group registered activity in the frontal, temporal and cingulate areas of the brain, which control decision-making and complex reasoning.
http://esc
Second,
There is plenty of research to counter this article. For example:
New visions of the aging mind and brain
Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz
Dept of Psychology, University of Michigan, 525 East University, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1109, USA
Abstract
Cognitive aging is widely viewed as a process of progressive mental loss. Compelling new evidence from functional neuroimaging urges a reconsideration of this pessimistic view. In the domains of working memory and episodic memory, older adults recruit different brain regions from those recruited by younger adults when performing the same tasks. Specifically, older adults show prominent changes in the recruitment of prefrontal regions, and a conspicuous increase in the extent to which activation patterns are bilateral. These results are stimulating new hypotheses about the mechanisms underlying age-related cognitive declines and the potential for compensation. By suggesting a life-long potential for reorganization and plasticity, these discoveries might revise long-held views of functional localization.
Nice theory. Now please explain why McCain can't seem to get that Shia/Sunni thing straight.
Is this an argument for restricting Presidential eligibility to those in their mid to late teens?
maybe toddlers!
Exactly.
Perhaps we need to put a top age limit on the presidency as well as a lower age limit. Reagan's cognitive problems were apparent for quite some time to any of us who have worked with the elderly. Let's don't do that again.
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