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examples reinforce the idea that the traditional doctrine of the stagnant, unchanging brain was false. Stroke patients did not have to be stuck with the brain damage caused by a broken blood vessel or clot. As brain cells die, the neighboring cells can compensate, maintaining the integrity of the neural circuit. To make this more personal, you see the house you grew up in, remember your first kiss, and cherish your circle of friends thanks to a highly personalized neural circuit that took a lifetime to create.
    One example of the miraculous ability of the brain to rewire itself is the case of an auto mechanic who suffered severe brain trauma after being thrown from his car in a traffic accident. He was paralyzed and able only to eye-blink or slightly nod his head to communicate. After seventeen years, however, this man spontaneously bounced out of his semicomatose condition. In the week following, he underwent an astonishing recovery, to the point of regaining fluent speech and some movement in his limbs. Over the next year and a half brain imaging gave visible evidence that he was regenerating new pathways that could restore his brain function. The healthy nerve cells were sprouting new axons (main trunks) and dendrites (numerous threadlike branches) to create neural circuitry that would compensate for the dead nerve cells—classic neuroplasticity!
    The bottom line is that we are not “hardwired.” Our brains are incredibly resilient; the marvelous process of neuroplasticity gives you the capability, in your thoughts, feelings, and actions, to develop in any direction you choose.
    Myth 3. Aging in the brain is inevitable and irreversible
    A movement known as the new old age is sweeping society. The social norm for the elderly used to be passive and grim; consignedto rocking chairs, they were expected to enter physical and mental decline. Now the reverse is true. Older people have higher expectations that they will remain active and vital. As a result, the definition of old age has shifted. A survey asked a sample of baby boomers “When does old age begin?” The average answer was 85. As expectations rise, clearly the brain must keep pace and accommodate the new old age. The old theory of the fixed and stagnant brain held that an aging brain was inevitable. Supposedly brain cells died continuously over time as a person aged, and their loss was irreversible.
    Now that we understand how flexible and dynamic the brain is, the inevitability of cell loss is no longer valid. In the aging process—which progresses at about 1 percent a year after the age of thirty—no two people age alike. Even identical twins, born with the same genes, will have very different patterns of gene activity at age seventy, and their bodies can be dramatically different as a result of lifestyle choices. Such choices didn’t add or subtract from the genes they were born with; rather, almost every aspect of life—diet, activity, stress, relationships, work, and the physical environment—changed the activity of those genes. Indeed, no single aspect of aging is inevitable. For any function, mental or physical, you can find people who improve over time. There are ninety-year-old stockbrokers who conduct complex transactions with memories that have improved over time.
    The problem is that too many of us adhere to the norm. As we get older, we tend to get lazy and apathetic about learning. It takes smaller stresses to upset us, and these stresses linger for a longer time. What used to be dismissed as an elderly person’s “being set in his ways” can now be traced to the mind-brain connection. Sometimes the brain is dominant in this partnership. Suppose a restaurant is behind in seating its patrons who have reservations. A younger person who must stand in line feels mild annoyance, but it dissipates once he is seated. An older person may react with a flash of anger—and remain resentful even after he has been seated. This is the differencein the