Older Really Can Mean Wiser

Behind an those canned compliments for older adults-"spry!" "wily!" and "wise!"-is an appreciation for something that scientists have had a hard time characterizing. Mental faculties can improve with age.

Researchers at Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital analyzed a huge trove of scores on cognitive tests given to persons from 10 to 89 years old. They then analyzed the results by the ages of participants. Dr. Germaine said of their findings: "We found different abilities really maturing or ripening at different ages. It's a much richer picture of the life span than just calling it 'aging'."

They found that processing speed (the quickness with which someone can work with digits, words or images) generally peaks in the late teens. Memory for some things, like names, does so in the early 20s.

The researchers analyzed results from a "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" test. ln it participants look at snapshots of strangers' eyes on a computer screen. From their eyes they determine their moods from a menu of options like "tentative," "uncertain," and "skeptical."

The researchers found that people in their 40s and 50s did best on this test. and that the skill declined very slowly later in life.

The picture that emerged from these findings ls that an older brain moves more slowly than a younger one, but is just as accurate in many areas, and more adept at reading others' moods -on top of being more knowledgeable. The new research gives some meaning to the empty adjectives for us seniors that we are "spry," "wily," and "wise."

— Norm Thomas