A day at York University - Our aging brain, the universe, but not without a stop at a donut shop and stereotyping

Saturday I went to York University for what they call “The York Circle” Lecture and Lunch Series. They had a lecture, “As times goes by: How memory and decision-making change with age by Shayna Rosenbaum. I wanted to see if there had been any updates since my psychology courses regarding aging and human development. There was another lecture that peeked my interest, “Structure in the near universe and its relevance” by Marshall McCall. I have always been interested in science which I dropped in grade 11 because I refused to dissect a frog. At that time you needed to dissect the frog before continuing with science. How ridiculous and I do hope that it has changed with more enlightenment. Anyway, getting back to the day, I was quite excited. I would be able to claim one hour of my 40 hrs requirement for the college, I would return to a class room at York which I had not in some time and I would be able to see colleagues and old classmates. My first stop was Tim Horton’s near Keele and Finch. I was not prepared for the lineup so early on a Saturday morning. However, I always give myself lots of time. Standing in line just in front of me, I noticed a male slightly taller than myself, wearing a hoodie with what appeared to look like asian letters on his neck. Slightly above the clusters of symbols, there were the figures 4 1 6 tattooed in bold, each letter sitting royally one above the other. My first thought was that in Toronto we have over 5000 gang members. I looked at this man, who had not noticed me and it was probably a good idea that he hadn’t, but the numbers were crying out at me, so I couldn’t help myself and blurted, “what does the 416 mean?” He turned to look at me and said that it was the area code for Toronto. I began to laugh and said that if they ever found him anywhere, they could trace him back home. He gave me the biggest smile and exclaimed. “I love Toronto.” This tough looking guy was a big pussy cat who loves his city. I know you can never judge a book by its cover (except mine it appears). However, I must admit I was pleasantly surprised. I talk to everyone unless I do see that they are delusional and unfortunately there are more than I like to see on the streets when they should be taken care of but that is another story. He bought his drinks and nodded at me as he was leaving. I was still smiling and nodded back. It set the mood for the day. I dropped off the donuts to some previous colleagues who I had not seen in some time. I would return after the lectures to catch up with news. I found the Life Science Building close to the gym building, taking in all the changes. I cannot keep up with the growth of York University. It is new and grand and beautiful but I must admit that I like the older grand structures of the University of Toronto. When you sit in an old building, you are sitting where so many have before you……..awe nice. Anyhow, I received my name tag, and I picked up some flyers, a pen and a small folder which opened into a writing pad. I also took the two York pins they had. Naturally I went for a nose dive to the coffee urns and noticed that breakfast were tiny muffins. Why not? I looked around me to see if there were any alumni around who I knew. There were none. I wondered where they all went to and what careers they now had. I had re-arranged my schedule to be able to attend this. Eventually I met a woman who is an accountant and her husband and aunt I believe. She was very excited about the lectures telling me she has been going for five years. “Really?” I asked, thinking that this was new. I was surprised that she never went to York and she explained that she had received the information in the mail. York does this for the community as well. “Have they ever asked for money?” I ask suspiciously since I am always asked for money from my homes of education. I thought that this is a great marketing objective. “Only once they asked us to pay for lunch.” she responded. “Only once” she repeated. “Really?” I responded thinking that buying your own lunch does not count. She told me how much she learns at these lectures especially by the questions that people ask. I was surprised about that. Soon the first lecture was beginning and it was purely for pleasure - astronomy. I sat at the front centre as I always do to focus and to stay awake. I had no problem with Marshall McCall. He reminded my of my grade 10 or 11 teacher who taught me how easy Math can be when someone knows how to teach it. She had written high school texts on math and she had that ability to simplify it so that a math idiot like me could understand. I received my highest grade in math that year and I owe it to her. Too bad she didn’t teach the other grades. Prof McCall was explaining the concept of distance so our little minds could understand and he was wonderful at it. Did you know that there are 70 galaxies that are considered small out there? Did you know that 90% or more is black matter? Did you know that the universe is expanding and accelerating as it expands? What structure is out there that we are part of? Did you know that there are more than 8000 galaxies? Did you know that there are 300 billion stars (stars are suns) and did you know that 2 1/2 % is all we know of what is out there. I could have sat there and listened to him all day. His passion for his research is astounding and then it came to me. He is good because he truly loves what he is doing. Why didn’t I have someone like him in high school? Yes, of course they do not need the same education in high school but what about passion? What about loving your students? Prof McCall also gave his students credit and that is a sign of a very secure person. Needless to say I was impressed. I have watched any and many programs regarding our universe so I was surprised by my own knowledge by watching the programs. I was not surprised that we only know 2 1/2 percent. We don’t seem to know very much about anything. I never hesitate to say “I know nothing” because in the general sense of things, I do believe we are in our infancy regarding knowledge. I was accelerated by the lecture. I was hungry for more. But, it was lunch time so I settled for food instead. Lunch was provided in little paper bags. It was a treat to see what was inside. I took the vegetarian bag and ate the main course. I gave away my tomato juice and apple (I miss eating apples since my dentist told me not to crunch on anything hard like an apple). I should slice some apples shouldn’t I? I had found a group of alumni now and it was fun. One was a financial broker and he told me that people are selling houses and leaving Toronto and then want to come back but cannot afford to. When a neighbour tells me this, I notice. When a financial broker tells me this I pay attention. This concerns me and makes me rethink going to Niagara Falls ever more. What happens if what my old professor who is almost 80 tells me going to Niagara Falls is like going to await death. What if??????? We are all exchanging information about ourselves and we are connected because we all have one thing in common - York University. One is still a student and she asks me if I have students. “No, I only have a private practice.” I respond. She beams telling me that it is a lot. We are ready for the second lecture. I am not as excited about this one perhaps because I did find aging and human development boring in undergrad. She speaks of the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. She speaks about the decrease in volume, decrease in fluid intelligence. She speaks of crystallized intelligence (stored memory). She speaks of a decline in episodic memory. She begs the question, of how does the brain adapt to changes. Aging brains are not necessarily declining brains. Pay attention here because it gets tiresome for me to hear about how old people are and so are now on longer able to ………………………mentally. When the brain is healthy, cognitive deficits are less pronounced. Older adults who perform well on cognitive tasks produce bilateral activation, possibly compensating for changes in brain structure. How can we encourage age related compensation? Life style and environment (preventive), cognitive strategies (compensating), avoid decline of brain by the foods we eat that also can be cancerous (I’m bad - sugar), do aerobics, socialize! I am stressing socializing because I find that too many people isolate themselves. We need each other. People living alone also too frequently live in poverty (she said that). Erickson et al. 2011, PNAS. The professor reported that there is increased hippocampal volume in active adults. Engage in enjoyable tasks that demand sustained mental effort (cognitive exercise) and leads to gains like learning a new language. Hippocampus lesion studies in rats became more engaging when in a healthy and stimulus environment. She spoke of memory strategies: self reliance effect, where later both young and old remembered more. For example “fine” does it have an “e” or not; “funny” is it good or bad; “calm” does this apply to me. I was impressed that this professor gave credit to her students as well. The question period began and I left grateful that the questions were reflective of the audience not having any background. So I did not feel like I was missing anything by getting a head start to the cloak room. I stopped to talk to previous colleagues rejuvenated by the lectures. I thought that perhaps I should continue my education. It would take another five years of school. Am I prepared to do that? I downloaded the requirements for Phd and I discovered that I had already done most of the post grad myself. They require a practicum of 1900 hrs for clinical psychology but I already have 1500. And then I see it. I see what does not work for me. I would have to be prepared to leave Toronto for one year for an internship due to availability. I have my own practice. That would not work for me. My bubble is burst and I ask myself, do I really want to do that all over again? Maybe there are concessions for people who are already psychotherapists with four years of internships. At the end of reading everything, I decided that there was no way I was going to put myself through that all over again. I have responsibilities. I have a tiny family I am responsible to. So, I make my decision. No way ho say. And then I wonder……………….. I have blogs that I wrote a long time ago regarding memory and aging. So, I invite you to track them down as I do other things I have to do. One thing that I realized while I was sitting in the lecture is how I incorporate all that I wrote about regarding a health brain in my practice. I am not thinking of “healthy brain” at the time, though that is what I realize I am suggesting. I encourage people to eat well and exercise which many do. However the balance is not always there. There needs to be a balance of work and play and socializing is so important. Why not make one change in your life today? What do you think?