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Old People Can Produce As Many New Brain Cells As Teenagers (independent.co.uk)
Long-time Slashdot reader Futurepower(R) shares this article about a newly-published study which counters previous theories that neurons stop developing after adolescence:
Healthy men and women continue to produce new neurons throughout life, suggesting older people remain more cognitively and emotionally intact than previously believed, researchers found. For decades it was thought that adult brains were hard-wired and unable to form new cells. But a Columbia University study found older people continued to produce neurons in the hippocampus -- a part of the brain important for memory, emotion and cognition -- at a similar rate to young people....
However, the researchers also noted fewer blood vessels and connections between cells in the older brains, which Ms Boldrini said "may be linked to compromised cognitive-emotional resilience" in the elderly.
The article suggests these newest findings may be hotly debated.
"They come just a month after a University of California study suggested adults do not develop new neurons."
However, the researchers also noted fewer blood vessels and connections between cells in the older brains, which Ms Boldrini said "may be linked to compromised cognitive-emotional resilience" in the elderly.
The article suggests these newest findings may be hotly debated.
"They come just a month after a University of California study suggested adults do not develop new neurons."
> Why can a child learn a new language easily while older brains can't?
Stephen Pinker hypothesizes in The Language Instinct that certain brain structures develop in childhood which are dedicated to learning language and understanding how to use it, and after the child internalizes his/her native language, these structures are repurposed for more abstract thinking.
I don't know if that's been supported by any science, though.