Recent British research suggests ginkgo or ginseng to boost a flagging memory might be appropriate. The declines in memory and computational skills often attributed to much older people turn out to start in the 40s.
Reaction time suffers the most.
Volunteers between 40 and 50 years of age were 15 percent slower at completing simple tasks on a computer compared with people in their 20s, the Electronic Telegraph reports. Accuracy, however, didn't differ between the two age groups tested. Scientists speculate that the cells of the brain lose some ability to communicate with each other as a person ages. Other research suggests that reducing stress may keep these losses from accelerating. A previous report from the Telegraph describes American experiments showing that stress hormones contribute to mental decline with age.