What happens to our brains as we age is of crucial importance not just to science, but to public policy ___ However, this demographic time-bomb would be much less threatening if the elderly were looked upon as intelligent contributors to society, rather than as dependants in long-term decline. It is time we rethink what we mean by the ageing mind before our false assumptions result in decisions tind policies that marginalize the old or waste precious public resources to re-mediate problems that do not exist.