The Mature Mind: The Positive Power of the Aging Brain

As a retired Social Worker (81), and having about 25 years in the field of Gerontology, I was first intrigued by a review of the central thesis of this book, "The Myth of the Mid-Life Crisis," in the January 16,2006 issue of NEWSWEEK. The book met my expectations, so have given it as a gift to each of our 3 middle-age children. This book is well written, well organized, and has fulfilled its promise to expand our knowlege of adulthood (Eric Erickson.) I highly recommend it, especially for that cohort of people who are facing early lay-offs, and feeling very insecure about "what do I do now?" It may give many a new feeling of confidence about thier future. I've actually lived the experiences described in the book.

I am 47 years old and saw Dr Cohen on the "The Today Show". I was so comforted to know that all the maladies that accompanying the aging brain don't have to be. We've been brainwashed by government controlled media. As long as we take the necessary nutrients FOR THE BRAIN and keep active we have not much to fear. My genuis- level mother died at age 77. First the dementia and then the Alzheimer's. She wasn't taking proper nutrients, drank well-water, was on antidepressants, loved toxic beef liver that stank when she cooked it and cooked with aluminum. She didn't know all this good information. I have severe short-term memory loss and looking forward to correcting it.

Even though I was raised around people who talked about the pains and ill health that accompanied aging, I never quite believed that this was what we were fated to look forward to. Still, it came as a wonderful revelation that I was not alone in my belief, and that there was strong evidence that aging as a time of decay was little more than a myth. This book not only provided compelling evidence that aging can be a rewarding period of life, but also provided a new set of expectations about what rewards will accompany the aging process. It was just the motivation I required to deal with what few health challenges I now have, so that I can enter the next phases of my life physically stronger and better able to reap its rewards!

Dr. Cohen's exceptional book sets the record straight on the positive potential of life's second half. He uses current research to demonstrate why older adults should view later life as a time of personal growth and enrichment. He further deomonstrates that what he labels developmental intelligence involves more than just countering the disengagemetn theory of aging but involves "deepening wisdom, judgement, perspective, and vision." This book openly counters aging stereotypes while encouraging people to embrace the potential of life's second half. A must read for everyone age 50 and over and anyone interested in better serving what is quickly becoming the new consumer majority.

The Mature Mind is bound to be be a best seller in the short term and perhaps a classic at least for the mid term. This easily accessible book which almost studiously avoids brain jargon draws on the latest developments in brain science to demonstrate the truth of a proposition I went out on a neurologicial limb in making 17 years ago in my book, Serving the Ageless Market. I proposed that in the second half of life a migration of left brain mental functions toward the right brain takes place at higher levels of maturation. The result is that in some important regards the older brain can have functional advantages over the younger brain. According to the science that Gene Cohen reports out in The Mature Mind, that is precisely what happens to many people as they age. I recommend this book to anyone who serves older people in any capacity, especially those who work in counseling or who are in the business of developing marketing communications for older markets. Why? Because the mature brain processes takes in and processes information differently than younger brains do. Thus, Dr. Cohen's book will help anyone achieve a better understanding older people. It will also lead to better communications with those who have advanced far on the path of what Dr. Cohen calls "developmental intelligence" which signal new levels of cognitive competence among older people that until Dr. Cohen's book has gone largely unrecognized.