Our minds inevitably slow with age, but there's new evidence that it doesn't necessarily happen as early as once thought — or feared. In a published study involving 1 million people who took an online cognitive test, older adults took longer to complete the test than younger participants, but their responses were more accurate.

As researchers noted, cautious thinking is still thinking. When they applied a statistical model to the data, they found that mental speed didn't actually dip until a person was in their 60s, contrary to previous studies that suggested the slowdown began as early as one's 20s.

Body of Knowledge

The human body typically produces the most saliva in the late afternoon and the least at night. Salivation is controlled by the autonomic nervous system, meaning it is an unconscious process (like your heartbeat).

Get Me That, Stat!

The CDC estimates that 1 in 10 people will develop new symptoms a month or more after their COVID-19 diagnosis, including fatigue, shortness of breath, heart rhythm changes and type 2 diabetes.

Doc Talk

Subtherapeutic: low-level

Phobia of the Week

Genuphobia: fear of knees

Best Medicine

First guy: I got really sick after drinking milk with cream.

Second guy: How are you feeling now?

First guy: Well, my stomach was churning for a while, but now I'm finally feeling butter.

Observation

"I have to exercise in the morning before my brain figures out what I'm doing." — Marsha Doble

Medical History

This week in 1959 at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, the first U.S. atomic reactor built specifically for medical research reached criticality. The reactor was mainly used for developing and testing boron neutron capture therapy, a promising treatment for patients with a deadly form of brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme. BNCT uses radiation and a boron compound to destroy cancer cells while leaving healthy cells intact. The reactor was shut down in 2000.

Ig Nobel Apprised

The Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate achievements that make people laugh, then think. A look at real science that's hard to take seriously and even harder to ignore.

In 2002, the Ig Nobel Prize in hygiene went to a Spanish entrepreneur for inventing a washing machine for cats and dogs.

Self-Exam

Q: How many kinds of saliva are there?

A: Five, defined in distinct phases. Cephalic saliva is the kind that occurs when you see or smell something appetizing. Buccal is the body's reflexive response to the actual presence of food in the mouth and helps in swallowing. Esophageal saliva involves stimulation of the salivary glands as food moves through the esophagus. The gastric phase happens when something irritates your stomach, like when you're on the verge of vomiting. The intestinal phase is triggered by a food that doesn't agree with you passing through the upper intestine.

Epitaphs

Should we lose each other in the

Shadow of the evening trees

I will wait for you

And should I fall behind

Wait for me. — Headstone of Mark Bassett (1964-2015)

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: geralt at Pixabay