The aim of the current paper was to present important factors for keeping the basic structures of a person’s brain function, i.e., the grey and white matter, intact. Several lines of evidence have shown that motion, relation, and passion are central factors for preserving the neural system in the grey and white matter during ageing. An active lifestyle has shown to contribute to the development of the central nervous system and to contrast brain ageing. Interpersonal relationships, and interactions, have shown to contribute to complex biological factors that benefit the cognitive resilience to decline. Furthermore, the current scientific literature suggests that passion, strong interest, could be the driving factor motivating individuals to learn new things, thus influencing the development and maintenance of the neural functional network over time. The present theoretical perspective paper aims to convey several key messages: (1) brain development is critically affected by lifestyle; (2) physical training allows one to develop and maintain brain structures during ageing, and may be one of the keys for good quality of life as an older person; (3) diverse stimuli are a key factor in maintaining brain structures; (4) motion, relation, and passion are key elements for contrasting the loss of the grey and white matter of the brain.

It is important to examine changes in driving performance and driver behavior with increasing age to improve road safety. The main purpose of this study was to explore if there were any differences in a group of young drivers ( n = 36, Mage = 32) and a group of elderly drivers ( n = 40, Mage = 72) on driving performance and driving skills on a number of driving tasks. An on-road driving test was conducted using a fixed 25-km route lasting approximately 30 minutes. Expert examiners assessed the participants’ driving skills and performance using assessment form measuring seven categories: car handling, observation/overview, signaling, positioning, speed adaption/risk, traffic flow/assessing gaps, and give way/traffic flow. Younger drivers reported significantly longer annual mileage (mean = 24,719 km) than older drivers (mean = 12,750 km). There were no significant group differences on self-reported number of accidents the last 3 years, driving frequency, or self-assessment scores. Independent sample t-test results show that compared to older drivers, the younger drivers scored significantly higher on 4 out of totally 32 category items in the assessment form. Two of them were in category total scores; car handling total score and speed adaption/risk total score, the other two were subcategory scores; use of controls and following traffic flow. The results indicate that aging itself and/or potential negative age-related decline in certain functions important for safe driving do effect driving performance, but less than expected and commonly assumed. One plausible explanation is that older drivers use compensatory actions related to factors like maturity and a behavioral adaptation to overcome difficulties in driving.

IntroductionDevelopment of crucial skills accelerates at the start of formal schooling, although, more knowledge is needed about the relationships between such skills. The current study explored the relationships between visuospatial working memory, letter-sound knowledge, math competence and motor competence, as well as potential effects of gender.Materials and methodsThe sample consisted of 85 (42 girls) 6 to 7 years old first grade children, and was measured with a test battery consisting of tests designed for each skill domain.ResultsResults demonstrated weak to moderate statistically significant correlations between visuospatial working memory, letter-sound knowledge, math competence, with no statistically significant gender differences. Two motor tasks measuring manual dexterity, placing bricks and building bricks, showed a weak statistically significant correlation.DiscussionWe argue that the findings demonstrate the relationships between these skills are low to moderate in first grade. Furthermore, we argue that these skills ought to be trained deliberately. The potential role of visuospatial working memory in procurement of novel skills in early childhood ought to be explored further in future studies.

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