Charan Ranganath

It's not like they don't know who they are. And I mean like they know their names, they know their biographies and so forth. But what happens is at the time, let's say if you had gone swimming and you nearly drowned, you had a hypoxia incident or a cardiac arrest or you had like a traumatic brain injury, severe memory deficit, right? Your sense of self doesn't update. It gets kind of stuck.

It's not like they don't know who they are. And I mean like they know their names, they know their biographies and so forth. But what happens is at the time, let's say if you had gone swimming and you nearly drowned, you had a hypoxia incident or a cardiac arrest or you had like a traumatic brain injury, severe memory deficit, right? Your sense of self doesn't update. It gets kind of stuck.

And so there is kind of a sense of looking and not – expecting yourself to be as old as you used to be, as you are, because you're stuck in your sense of who you were. And I do think, I talked to my good friend Rick Robbins at Davis as a personality psychologist, and he studies the development of personality. And it does develop. It kind of stabilizes in these adolescent years.

And so there is kind of a sense of looking and not – expecting yourself to be as old as you used to be, as you are, because you're stuck in your sense of who you were. And I do think, I talked to my good friend Rick Robbins at Davis as a personality psychologist, and he studies the development of personality. And it does develop. It kind of stabilizes in these adolescent years.

And so there is kind of a sense of looking and not – expecting yourself to be as old as you used to be, as you are, because you're stuck in your sense of who you were. And I do think, I talked to my good friend Rick Robbins at Davis as a personality psychologist, and he studies the development of personality. And it does develop. It kind of stabilizes in these adolescent years.

And that's actually also interestingly related to memory. But it does change. People do change in really interesting ways. So one thing is that people grow more optimistic on average as they get older. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah, that's true. So Laura Karstensen, your colleague at Stanford, actually has done some really cool work on that topic.

And that's actually also interestingly related to memory. But it does change. People do change in really interesting ways. So one thing is that people grow more optimistic on average as they get older. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah, that's true. So Laura Karstensen, your colleague at Stanford, actually has done some really cool work on that topic.

And that's actually also interestingly related to memory. But it does change. People do change in really interesting ways. So one thing is that people grow more optimistic on average as they get older. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah, that's true. So Laura Karstensen, your colleague at Stanford, actually has done some really cool work on that topic.

Well, you know, so I think that's overdone a little bit. I think you're right. You know, you definitely see less dopamine activity, for instance, as people get older. But what I'll say is that people have gobs – if you have a healthy aging person, they have gobs of neuroplasticity. But often what happens is, yeah, you get stuck in your ways, and that could be related to a few things.

Well, you know, so I think that's overdone a little bit. I think you're right. You know, you definitely see less dopamine activity, for instance, as people get older. But what I'll say is that people have gobs – if you have a healthy aging person, they have gobs of neuroplasticity. But often what happens is, yeah, you get stuck in your ways, and that could be related to a few things.

Well, you know, so I think that's overdone a little bit. I think you're right. You know, you definitely see less dopamine activity, for instance, as people get older. But what I'll say is that people have gobs – if you have a healthy aging person, they have gobs of neuroplasticity. But often what happens is, yeah, you get stuck in your ways, and that could be related to a few things.

One is that you get changes in the prefrontal cortex, and that leads you to be less cognitively flexible. It can be also because people just build up so much prior knowledge about the world that it just becomes kind of ingrained that this is the way it is, and it's harder to be surprised. I mean, you kind of see this with old scientists, right? They go like, nothing's new.

One is that you get changes in the prefrontal cortex, and that leads you to be less cognitively flexible. It can be also because people just build up so much prior knowledge about the world that it just becomes kind of ingrained that this is the way it is, and it's harder to be surprised. I mean, you kind of see this with old scientists, right? They go like, nothing's new.

One is that you get changes in the prefrontal cortex, and that leads you to be less cognitively flexible. It can be also because people just build up so much prior knowledge about the world that it just becomes kind of ingrained that this is the way it is, and it's harder to be surprised. I mean, you kind of see this with old scientists, right? They go like, nothing's new.

Everything's been discovered in 1960, and nothing new has happened since then.

Everything's been discovered in 1960, and nothing new has happened since then.

Everything's been discovered in 1960, and nothing new has happened since then.

I believe that's true, but that's an opinion. I don't have data on that per se, but someone's probably looked at this. But that would be my sense is that a lot of what happens with the way people's lives play out as they get older have to do with their environment and their experience. And that's not to say that

I believe that's true, but that's an opinion. I don't have data on that per se, but someone's probably looked at this. But that would be my sense is that a lot of what happens with the way people's lives play out as they get older have to do with their environment and their experience. And that's not to say that

I believe that's true, but that's an opinion. I don't have data on that per se, but someone's probably looked at this. But that would be my sense is that a lot of what happens with the way people's lives play out as they get older have to do with their environment and their experience. And that's not to say that