Current:Home > ScamsRecent gaffes by Biden and Trump may be signs of normal aging – or may be nothing -WealthMindset
Recent gaffes by Biden and Trump may be signs of normal aging – or may be nothing
View
Date:2025-04-17 18:18:47
Last week, President Biden confused the president of Egypt with the president of Mexico.
In late January, former President Donald Trump appeared to confuse his Republican rival Nikki Haley with Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat.
The lapses prompted lots of amateur speculation about the mental fitness of each man.
But dementia experts say such slips, on their own, are no cause for concern.
"We've all had them," says Dr. Zaldy Tan, who directs the Memory and Healthy Aging Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. "It's just that we are not public figures and therefore this is not as noticeable or blown up."
Also, memory lapses become more common with age, even in people whose brains are perfectly healthy.
The temporary inability to remember names, in particular, "is very common as we get older," says Dr. Sharon Sha, a clinical professor of neurology at Stanford University.
Cognitive changes are often associated with diseases like Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. But all brains lose a step or two with age.
"Even the so-called successful agers, if you measure their cognitive performance, you will see certain changes compared to their baseline," Tan says.
A slower brain
One reason for the decline is a decrease in the speed at which the brain processes information. Slower processing means a person may take longer to respond to a question or make a decision.
That may be a problem for a race car driver or an airline pilot, Tan says. But it's less likely to make a difference to someone who is doing "an executive-level job, where there is a lot of support and a lot more time to do planning and decision making."
Another cognitive change associated with age involves working memory, which allows us to keep in mind a password or phone number for a few seconds or minutes.
A typical person in their 20s might be able to reliably hold seven digits in working memory, Sha says. "As we age, that might diminish to something like six digits, but not zero."
A healthy brain typically retains its ability to learn and store information. But in many older people, the brain's ability to quickly retrieve that information becomes less reliable.
"Trying to remember that name of the restaurant that they were in last week or the name of the person that they met for coffee, that is not in itself a sign of dementia," Tan says, "but it's a sign of cognitive aging."
A glitch or a problem?
Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia become more common with each passing decade. An estimated 40% of people between 80 and 85 have either dementia, which makes independent living difficult, or what's known as mild cognitive impairment.
But diagnosing those conditions requires more than an hour of testing and a thorough history of someone's life, Tan says, not just watching a few seconds of a press conference.
"Some people are reading too much into little snippets of interviews without really knowing what's going on behind the scenes," he says.
Part of the process of diagnosing a brain problem is ruling out other factors.
"We often ask about sleep because that can impair memory," Sha says. "We ask about depression and anxiety, we ask about medication."
It's also critical to measure a person's current cognitive performance against their performance earlier in life, Sha says. A retired professor, for example, may do well on cognitive tests despite a significant mental decline.
Assessing a president
During his presidency, Donald Trump said that he "aced" a test called the Montreal Cognitive Assessment or MoCA. But Sha says that's a 10-minute screening test designed to flag major deficits, not an in-depth look at cognitive function.
"It's a great screening test," Sha says. "But for a president, you would kind of expect that [their score] should be perfect."
Both Sha and Tan agree that voters should consider the benefits of an older brain when considering presidential candidates.
"As you get older, you have more experience, more control [over] your emotions," Tan says. So it's important to not only look at a candidate's cognitive abilities, he says, but also "their wisdom and the principles that they live by."
veryGood! (8)
Related
- Tarte Shape Tape Concealer Sells Once Every 4 Seconds: Get 50% Off Before It's Gone
- 12 Things From Goop's $100K+ Holiday Gift Guide We'd Actually Buy
- 'Love Island Games' Season 1: Release date, cast and trailer for new Peacock show
- Federal charge says former North Dakota lawmaker traveled to Prague with intent to rape minor
- A White House order claims to end 'censorship.' What does that mean?
- Ariana Madix Reveals Unexpected Dancing With the Stars Body Transformation
- Americans are still putting way too much food into landfills. Local officials seek EPA’s help
- 'Remain calm:' Jamaica prime minister urges citizens to follow safety guidance after quake
- Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
- What does 'The Exorcist' tell us about evil? A priest has some ideas
Ranking
- Man can't find second winning lottery ticket, sues over $394 million jackpot, lawsuit says
- What does 'The Exorcist' tell us about evil? A priest has some ideas
- Afghans in droves head to border to leave Pakistan ahead of a deadline in anti-migrant crackdown
- Joran van der Sloot is sent back to Peru after US trial and confession in Holloway killing
- House passes bill to add 66 new federal judgeships, but prospects murky after Biden veto threat
- Where Southern Charm's Olivia Stands With Taylor Today After Austen Hookup Betrayal
- Massachusetts governor says state is working with feds to help migrants in shelters find work
- Albuquerque’s annual hot air balloon fiesta continues to grow after its modest start 51 years ago
Recommendation
Questlove charts 50 years of SNL musical hits (and misses)
Nevada man charged with threatening U.S. senator in antisemitic messages
Model Maleesa Mooney Death Case: Autopsy Reveals New Details About Her Final Moments
Watchdog group says attack that killed videographer ‘explicitly targeted’ Lebanon journalists
Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
Ex-North Dakota lawmaker charged with traveling to Czech Republic for sex with minor
Olympic Gymnast Mary Lou Retton Breaks Silence on Health Battle
Florida health clinic owner sentenced in $36 million fraud scheme that recruited fake patients