Fair point, and one of particular interest to me, age 76.

I find my short-term memory is in decline, magnitude depending on specific circumstances. This annoys me, and to a lesser degree, my wife as well. Really, where did I put that damned can opener?

But I also find my ability to find connections among phenomena in my technical field has markedly increased. In addition to my subjective perception, there's an outside measure, the annual rate of patent applications my employer files on my disclosures, and consequent cash bonuses. About a factor of 4x compared to when I was 60. As well (per my wife's telling), I'm better at remembering anniversaries and other significant dates in our lives and those of our family & friends. Anecdata, of course.

I'd say my age-related 'decline' has been uneven regarding details of cognition/memory, and at the moment provides me and my loved ones a better quality of life - certainly not what I expected decades earlier. It's complicated, and I'll be interested to see what more the posted research leads to.

Thanks for your data points. They are quite encouraging. I was blessed with the ability to remember way more information that most of my peers. Now that I have lost some of that ability, I still retain quite a bit, with slower retrieval times usually. Over all, I really have no room to complain. ( although I still do). The skill I value the most though is finding those connections you speak of. I currently don't have a feel for how that has changed, but I think I am still good to go in that department.