Older brains still learn, but maybe too much

Subject: Older brains still learn, but maybe too much Tue Dec 02, 2014 9:03 pm

If you have ever noticed that you notice more as you get older, well, brain science might be on your side.

Older brains still learn, but maybe too much 1417466426311

Older brains still learn, but maybe too much 1417466426311

There is a catch, though: lots of that visual information isn't important, and it might be replacing more relevant stuff, such as where you parked the car.

A new study suggests adults who are well into their 60s and 70s can learn visual information just as readily as the whippersnappers in their 20s, but the elders pick up much more irrelevant visual information than do their younger counterparts.

The findings could help clarify the nature of cognitive declines that come with age. At least for visual perceptual learning, older brains remain "plastic," or changeable, but they might sacrifice stability, or long-term retention of information, the study suggests.

That is because of a decline in the ability to suppress information that is not germane to the task at hand, according to the study.

"Our brain capacity is limited," said Brown University neuroscientist Takeo Watanabe, co-author of the study published online in the journal Current Biology. "If you learn more unnecessary things, then there is a risk of replacing important, existing information in the brain with something trivial."

http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/older-brains-still-learn-but-maybe-too-much-20141202-11y0zz.html

Older brains still learn, but maybe too much

Older brains still learn, but maybe too much

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