The 2024 presidential race has been dominated by allegations of mental decline. Scientists and doctors offer cautionary notes.
By Joel Achenbach and Mark Johnson, The Washington PostPresident Biden delivers his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill on Feb. 7, 2023. On Election Day, former president Donald Trump will be 78 years old, and President Biden will be a couple weeks shy of 82. Never have two people of such advanced age been the nominees of the major political parties, nor has there been a campaign so rife with suspicions and allegations that candidates are showing signs of age-related cognitive decline.
and scientific experts warn that media reports and punditry about the candidates’ mental fitness have been marred by misinformation about the aging process. Inevitably, verbal stumbles or any other whiff of mental decline are magnified by an often unmerciful news media. The most highly publicized stumbles by the candidates involve mixing up proper nouns. Biden said “Mitterrand” when he meant “Macron,” and Trump said “Haley” when he meant “Pelosi,” for example. Many older people struggle with proper nouns, in part because names are arbitrary labels.
“Emotional regulation, emotional caring, appreciation, motivation to be social with others - all of those go up with age,” she said, adding her dismay at the tenor of the national discussion about aging political leaders. “The ageism that underlies these discussions is remarkable,” she said.Normal aging in the brain involves changes in the smallest components, as well as the broader systems. The machinery our cells use to convert glucose into energy and get rid of waste begins to break down.
“If you map cognitive function and physical function onto chronological age, nothing lines up,” Sekuler said. “But if you plot it relative to time of death, then it lines up much better.”“Anyone who’s seeing changes in their emotion, in their speech, in their behavior, in their memory, in their sleep patterns, any of those things, if it’s concerning to you, definitely you should get it looked at,” Sekuler said, speaking of the population generally.
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