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"I Whhlbv Fr.. Pieu, WeÃ"iee&y. Febwwy 14.199, Pope 7 The soy datelincd Baltimnore, quotes Dr. Rubin Gur in leailing the problan. decliing attention. "nhe ability w se âlect the important things from die simuli that bombard you and proccss it further shows a fairly dramatic decline after 18. Dr. Our may- have missôd Uie point: that after a certain age we don't nced to sort out die minute detail. We've selected the important stuf and need only savour kt. We don't have tUme to waste. Let's admit that not too many 50-year-olds tend goal in the NHL; nd that teenagers score better at Dom than -randfathmr. Cliessmasrs umerge in their tenas, Mmrei their twenties, and reign in their early thirties. After that we attempui vain wo hold onto what we have., But it's this-insistence by Gur that our attention begins wo flag that rankels. Attentionnd the ability wo work with spatial concepts. Ha. She: "Did yoèu bring tic map?" He: "It's in my head. Ilil get us th=r." She: "That' what you said last trne. We drove around wown for two hours" He: "How was 1wt know Uiey'd moved? It's cither ibis block or it's on Uic other side of wown." She: "You could stop to ask Try tbat corne sor." He: "And look like a jerk?" You get thc picture? Dr. Gur andbis scientist friends - ail under 30, you can betsme likely female - pounice on"ti familiar domcstic excbange to indicate deteriorating bran function. But given tha t this driver wil continue wo drive around and around for two, tdue bours, surely proves his ability 10 focus onthe, task ai band, particularly wben faced with distracting comments.from thc passenger seat. Dr. Gur dlaims that mm, wear ou thei function of Uieir frontal lobes. They tend to keep using their frontal lobes when told wo relax,-while women were more able to tumn them off. (The lobes not tie men). That- woenen are able turmm paxts of their brain off at will may not be exciting scnce. One chaviis friend of mine says it explains smti For old fogies who worry about decining function, GOur bad ne othercomment. So6deblitating is the decline of maie mental powers(anid Uic sbrinking of Uicefrotallobes) iatby tUic rne mni reach middle age, Uieir frontal lobes have sbrunken - you ready for this? - w Uic sizc of tic average woman7s. M REBIDENCE 0F ROY TALLING, 004 BROCK STREET SOUTHC. 1910 This brick hous, which stili standis, wus built by Whitby contractor William Westlake i the 1890s. Roy Talling, who llved here after his marriage I 1905, owned a talor'. shop I downtx>wn Whitby M i. 1920t. He dled I Toronto i 1960. He was marrled to Mr. Westlaes, daughter Daisy. Wbit1y Aribives photo 10 TEARS AGO from the. Wedneeday,, February 12, 1986 edition of the WHriTBY FRER PRESS " Whitby Business Improvement Area bas tripled its budget th" year. 0 Seven million dollars worth of building permits were issued In January, double that of 1985. " Dr. Clayton MacKay of Whltby l. president of the Society of Ontario Veteriarlanu " The Crimestoppers program wlll begin In Durham Region at the end of March. 85 TZARS AGO from the Thursday, February 9, 1961 edition of the" WaHiTBY WEEKL.Y NEWS " Emergency measures sirens wlll b. lnstalled at the. downtown and Port Whltby fire halls. * Councllor Hany Inkpen hian moved to place the town police under control of the. Municipa Council instead of the Police Commission because by-Iaws are flot beng enforced. *The Ontario Ladies'College, established in 1874, is being re-incorporatod. Judge John E. Pritchard, founder of the Peter Perry Award for* Wbitby's outstandig citizens, <ied on Feb. 5, at the. age of 59. 100 YEARS AGO fr-om the Thursday, February, 14, 1896 edition of the. WITBY C LOMMCE " Larg quantities ofi!ce have been eut trom Pherrill'.a pond i the 4th concession to supply Whitby'sice houae. " Daniel X. Deeker,, governor of the County Jafi, bas not been paid for 14 months because of a dispute wlth the. Ontario County Council. " The Hon. John Dryden has donated a cup as a trophy for local hockey competition. 0 Sleighing parties are popular during the good snow season. j. i I'4 ~ S 14 t ~ ;IX< *~ t OIl and dumber A headline, in thc Toronto Star on Sunday, proclaimed something that many. nmany people apparently already knew: >Wiser with age? Men ge l der and dam ber, prof says 'Me Star put this in 48-point type at the top of page one. At two-tbirds of an inch bigb, (1.7 centimeftrs) 48-point type is' flot subtle. Where were we? Oh, yes. About menx geuting dumber with age. Wbich is worse: science saying we!re getting old and stupid or that Uic worst of Uic damage bappens before age 50. After that we don't get much dumber, but by then it doesn' mauter mucb. (My 10-year-old female assistant peeked over my shoulder just row and rtminded me that dumb means unable wo speak, and bas nothing wo do with other mental capacities. Wbich lily nicans that if science bas its facts right, Uic headline Must bave been written by a 50-plus-year-old male. I digress).. 'Ibis dumbe-with-age tbing could explain lots, including Uic tendency of tbose of certan gender persuasions w misay car kcys, forget wbat day lisgarbage day, and carry outgoing mail around for days anid days before mailing. 1ra~iw7aihiIJLAIII3 1 iri