Can I blame losing my phone on old age?

AS SOMEONE who celebrated yet another birthday this week (I fear I shall never see 40 again), I should welcome the latest research from Georgetown University in the States.

You know how we ancients are meant to experience ‘senior moments’? Well, we don’t. Or at least, not as many as we’d thought. The researchers looked at three neural networks located in different parts of the brain.

The ‘alerting’ network deals with how ready we are to cope with new information. The ‘executive’ network deals with how good we are at sifting out distractions and focusing on the task in hand. And the ‘orienting’ network on our ability to concentrate on a specific priority.

The bad news is that, as we age, we become less capable of handling new information. But the good news is that the other two actually improve with old age. I confess I find that a little puzzling. I have no sense of direction, which you might think is connected to the ‘orienting’ network. But apparently not. When I was 21 my boss sent me to report on the opening of the Severn Bridge by the Queen. I got lost and missed the opening.

My humiliation turned out to be a blessing. I vowed that I would become a television news reporter — purely on the basis that I would go everywhere with a film crew and the sound recordist was always responsible for navigating.

It worked. Now, of course, we have smart phones so I need never get lost again.

Which is great — except that I keep losing my phone.

Old age maybe..?