Can you train your brain?

I recently read an article in the New York Times titled: how to train the aging brain. I always throught that I got easily distracted from tasks and became forgetful of the details of the books we read in class, but studies show that with our aging population those in their 40s to 60s are becoming increasingly more forgetful. Aging brains fall into what is called "the default mode", during which the mind wanders off and begins daydreaming, causing middle aged people to forget that they were cooking pizza and get distracted, until the pizza is smoking and the fire alarm goes off.

The question that this article essentially brings up is: can you teach an old dog new tricks? The article then argues that yes, brains continue to develop through and after middle age. Personally, this makes sense to me. I have often heard of the "old wise man" and this argument confirms that he exists. While brains grow older they may lose small details, but they gain a greater depth of complexity and have an easier time seeing the big picture. After all, numbers and dates we learn in school might end up not mattering, but the bigger ideas do.