Expertise and knowledge are not lost with age
A study has found that that long-term memory remains unaffected with age and a person’s vocabulary, emotional intelligence and social skills may all get better.
Short-term memory, learning skills and the ability to reason do decline with age, the research shows, but not all mental faculties reach their peak when a person is in their 20s as is commonly believed.
It comes after similar studies last week showed the elderly can still learn new abilities but are 'wiser' because their brains are less dependent on 'feel good' hormones making them appear less driven by emotion and impulsivity.
The findings also underline demands for an end to ageism in the workplace, particularly in professional roles, and come as the government plans to bring forward an increase the retirement age for millions of workers.
Researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York conducted their study by examining the effect ageing on the brains of rhesus monkeys.
In older monkeys, while the brain lost almost half of its neural receivers responsible for learning new things, nearly all those associated with long-term memory remained intact.
John Morrison, a professor of neuroscience who led the Mount Sinai research, said: “We believe expertise and knowledge coded in the receivers is not lost with age. This may be how the brain retains what it learnt decades ago, and why a professor of cell biology can teach well into his eighties.
“As we age we retain our vocabulary, IQ and expertise, which can actually improve with time. Older people have enormous wisdom ... to force them to step down is a waste of these abilities.”
Dr Peter Connelly, an expert in old age at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, told The Times: “Where a young person is jumping all over the place looking for solutions, older people can draw from experience.”
“An older person’s judgment of things can be exceptionally valuable because they have more experience and with it the ability to think through things much more logically and sensibly,”
Last week’s report was from researchers at the University of California who carried out a series of studies on 3,000 people aged between 60 and 100 to find out what happens to the brain as it ages.
Professor Dilip Jeste of the University of California, San Diego, said: "The fact that older people are slower to respond than younger people is widely seen as a disadvantage. But that's not always the case.
"The elderly brain is less dopamine-dependent, making people less impulsive and controlled by emotion. Older people also less likely to respond thoughtlessly to negative emotional stimuli because their brains have slowed down compared to younger people. This, in fact is what we call wisdom.”
It comes after similar studies last week showed the elderly can still learn new abilities but are 'wiser' because their brains are less dependent on 'feel good' hormones making them appear less driven by emotion and impulsivity.
The findings also underline demands for an end to ageism in the workplace, particularly in professional roles, and come as the government plans to bring forward an increase the retirement age for millions of workers.
Researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York conducted their study by examining the effect ageing on the brains of rhesus monkeys.
In older monkeys, while the brain lost almost half of its neural receivers responsible for learning new things, nearly all those associated with long-term memory remained intact.
John Morrison, a professor of neuroscience who led the Mount Sinai research, said: “We believe expertise and knowledge coded in the receivers is not lost with age. This may be how the brain retains what it learnt decades ago, and why a professor of cell biology can teach well into his eighties.
“As we age we retain our vocabulary, IQ and expertise, which can actually improve with time. Older people have enormous wisdom ... to force them to step down is a waste of these abilities.”
Dr Peter Connelly, an expert in old age at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, told The Times: “Where a young person is jumping all over the place looking for solutions, older people can draw from experience.”
“An older person’s judgment of things can be exceptionally valuable because they have more experience and with it the ability to think through things much more logically and sensibly,”
Last week’s report was from researchers at the University of California who carried out a series of studies on 3,000 people aged between 60 and 100 to find out what happens to the brain as it ages.
Professor Dilip Jeste of the University of California, San Diego, said: "The fact that older people are slower to respond than younger people is widely seen as a disadvantage. But that's not always the case.
"The elderly brain is less dopamine-dependent, making people less impulsive and controlled by emotion. Older people also less likely to respond thoughtlessly to negative emotional stimuli because their brains have slowed down compared to younger people. This, in fact is what we call wisdom.”
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