Make Pool a Serious Hobby, Reverse the Aging of Brain

JarnoV

JarnoV

JarnoV
Silver Member
I thought this was a topic important enough to warrant its own thread.

Michael Merzenich says that current research in neuroscience shows that you can reverse the cognitive decline that we thought comes inevitably with aging. The reversal of cognitive decline, however, requires a lifestyle that is obsessed with learning new things and re-learning and fine-tuning your current skills. Think of a concert violinist, who has to constantly be practicing his/her skills just to keep one's job in the long run. As Merzenich puts it: don't live on autopilot.

Merzenich's 26 minute lecture:

http://fora.tv/2010/11/18/Michael_Merzenich_Rewiring_the_Brain

I made a short blog post on the topic too:

http://caroming-the-combination.blogspot.com/2011/11/make-pool-serious-hobby-reverse-aging.html
 
JarnoV said:
I thought this was a topic important enough to warrant its own thread.

Michael Merzenich says that current research in neuroscience shows that you can reverse the cognitive decline that we thought comes inevitably with aging. The reversal of cognitive decline, however, requires a lifestyle that is obsessed with learning new things and re-learning and fine-tuning your current skills. Think of a concert violinist, who has to constantly be practicing his/her skills just to keep one's job in the long run. As Merzenich puts it: don't live on autopilot.

Merzenich's 26 minute lecture:

http://fora.tv/2010/11/18/Michael_Merzenich_Rewiring_the_Brain

I made a short blog post on the topic too:

http://caroming-the-combination.blogspot.com/2011/11/make-pool-serious-hobby-reverse-aging.html
Click to expand...

No. The old guys on this forum say that people can be too old to learn new things. They say that people should NOT - DEFINITELY NOT - Really! NOT use their brains trying out anything new related to pool.

:-)

Thank you for the link - it's how I feel too. I think you can die stuck in a rut or you can die reaching for the stars. I prefer the stars.
 
I havent got time to watch this yet, but other activities such as chess can help people in the same way and it actually goes a long way to preventing conditions such as alzheimers disease.

Nobody is too old to learn things, but you have to be prepared to not be stuck in your ways. If you can embrace change success or at least fulfilment will embrace you. Hopefully I can live by my own advice in 34 years time when I reach the ripe old age of 60 :)

Pool is a bit more tough as you have to really calculate the games. But most people just get down and shoot without any thought. You've got to take a professional attitude for this kind of reversing to work, in my own opinion.
 
JB Cases said:
No. The old guys on this forum say that people can be too old to learn new things. They say that people should NOT - DEFINITELY NOT - Really! NOT use their brains trying out anything new related to pool.

:-)

Thank you for the link - it's how I feel too. I think you can die stuck in a rut or you can die reaching for the stars. I prefer the stars.
Click to expand...

Hrhrhr John!
please define *old* , LOL! I m hungry for every single new aspect i could learn. Hm, if i would rate it towards your posting....i feel like a teenager :D

good stuff btw,

lg
Ingo
 
Ratta said:
Hrhrhr John!
please define *old* , LOL! I m hungry for every single new aspect i could learn. Hm, if i would rate it towards your posting....i feel like a teenager :D

good stuff btw,

lg
Ingo
Click to expand...

77. Actually "old" is anyone who thinks that there is nothing new to be learned, no new way to approach things, no other way than the way they learned "back in the day" to do things.

That's "old" to me.

One reason I like the "aiming systems" is that they force me to think more about what the hell I am doing when I am getting down on the ball. They have kept me awake nights trying to figure them out and this is definitely stimulation for the brain.
 
A 26 minute lecture? :boring2:

Don't need it. I'll boil it down for ya: If you don't use it, you lose it. :thumbup:

I teach Geriatrics, among other things. :smile:
 
This economy helped me stay sharp.
Plant closes when production moves to Mexico. Go back to college at 45 (NAFTA), learn a whole new skill set.

Now if I could just figure out how to retrain my pool game.....
 
I have to say I'm a little disappointed that this type of information didn't get more (positive) attention. I consider Merzenich's message close to life-changing and positive at that. Maybe some people consider this old news in the sense that they have always believed the central message. But to me, it's incredible that the reversal of cognitive decline is proven scientific knowledge. It's not just "common wisdom," which often has shown to be false in closer inspection. It really is so that you can reverse the aging of the brain.

I find the content Merzenich's lecture absolutely amazing.

Well, I guess it's back to "yaysayers vs. naysayers". Sigh.
 
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I'll be damned...I went to high school with this guy! Nothing else similar, of course. Yes, he was a "brain" even back then...probably one of the few intellectuals Lebanon (OR) high school ever produced.

To learn about Mike's career on a pool site...amazing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Merzenich
 
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Brain plasticity is amazing stuff, some incredible research being revealed recently. All folks have to do is use it.
:p
 
JarnoV said:
I have to say I'm a little disappointed that this type of information didn't get more (positive) attention. I consider Merzenich's message close to life-changing and positive at that. Maybe some people consider this old news in the sense that they have always believed the central message. But to me, it's incredible that the reversal of cognitive decline is proven scientific knowledge. It's not just "common wisdom," which often has shown to be false in closer inspection. It really is so that you can reverse the aging of the brain.

I find the content Merzenich's lecture absolutely amazing.

Well, I guess it's back to "yaysayers vs. naysayers". Sigh.
Click to expand...

It is something many of us agree with although not all of us practice it. I am going to send a link to a buddy of mine who is in his 70s and is still working on his pool game, though he has run 100 before. He also plays chess at a fairly high level, is learning new three cushion shots, and is generally open to learning anything. Qualities to be emulate.
 
JarnoV said:
I thought this was a topic important enough to warrant its own thread.

Michael Merzenich says that current research in neuroscience shows that you can reverse the cognitive decline that we thought comes inevitably with aging. The reversal of cognitive decline, however, requires a lifestyle that is obsessed with learning new things and re-learning and fine-tuning your current skills. Think of a concert violinist, who has to constantly be practicing his/her skills just to keep one's job in the long run. As Merzenich puts it: don't live on autopilot.

Merzenich's 26 minute lecture:

http://fora.tv/2010/11/18/Michael_Merzenich_Rewiring_the_Brain

I made a short blog post on the topic too:

http://caroming-the-combination.blogspot.com/2011/11/make-pool-serious-hobby-reverse-aging.html
Click to expand...

Thanks for the links!:thumbup:

Best,
Mike
 
Psychology

I had a psych teacher in college and she said the best way to combat mental aging was to learn a new language. The way a foreign language forces your brain to work made sense. The way things are going, maybe it wouldn't hurt.
 
JB Cases said:
No. The old guys on this forum say that people can be too old to learn new things. They say that people should NOT - DEFINITELY NOT - Really! NOT use their brains trying out anything new related to pool.

:-)

Thank you for the link - it's how I feel too. I think you can die stuck in a rut or you can die reaching for the stars. I prefer the stars.
Click to expand...

I'll be 78 years old this February and I'm still in the process of learning. i've spent 25 years with IBM in Research & Development and there's still whole new worlds to learn and conquer. I've watch Momk 202 (disc 2) 4 times in the past week and still don't have down kicking and banking as well as I'd like. Wish I could learn faster.
 
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