Ageing brain 'less able to learn from experience'RSS Feed

The brain injury that accompanies ageing makes older people less able to learn from experience, research has shown.

A study published in the Journal of Neuroscience revealed that the ageing brain is less resilient and less capable of learning from life experience.

The team from Mount Sinai studies the prefrontal cortex and found that nerve cell circuitry is highly plastic in the prefrontal cortex of young animals and learning from life experience can alter prefrontal circuitry.

However, in middle aged and older rats, the spines on the prefrontal cortex nerve cells did not change, showing a lack of ability to 'rewire' the brain in response to life events.

Research leader John H Morrison said: "We suspected that these nerve cells would be altered by age, but the loss of synaptic plasticity in the context of life experience has profound implications for age-related cognitive decline."

In other news, research from Johns Hopkins found that a 'survival protein' is produced in to protect brain cells from the brain injury seen in stroke.

News brought to you by Serious Law specialists in brain injury

Posted by Paul Breen
 

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