The Older You Get, the Wiser You Become    [28-10-2011] The legendary American author and humorist, Mark Twain once said, “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. When I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.” Mr. Twain’s comical observation on the development of human wisdom is now being verified by science! A recent study showed a distinction between the minds of younger and older people. In the study, Canadian researchers monitored two groups of people. The first group was aged 18 to 35, and the second was aged 55 to 75. The researchers used a special word matching game in which the rules changed from beginning to end. As the game progressed, the researchers were able to view concurrent images of brain activity and examine reactions to mistakes. Researchers detected notable activity in parts of the younger brains that did not appear in the scans of the older participants. This suggests that the older brains were able to rebound more calmly from errors than their younger counterparts. The results challenge the belief that human brains weaken or lose the capacity to make accurate judgments when getting older. “We now have scientific evidence showing that with age comes wisdom, and that as the brain gets older, it learns to better allocate its resources,“ said Dr. Oury Monchi, of the University Geriatrics Institute of Montreal 몬트리올대학 노인병학기관. The research proposes that older brains are better able to endure critical commentary differently than developing minds. “Overall, our study shows that most people become wiser as they grow older. They also learn how to best use their abilities,” Dr. Monchi continued. “Another good thing about aging is that you become more immune to criticism. Also, older people are more confident than young people.” Dr. Monchi acknowledged the perception that intellectual capacity diminishes over time. “It is true that as we grow older, our physical abilities weaken. But when it comes to certain tasks, the brains of older adults can achieve very close to the same performance as those of younger ones,” he explained. He emphasized the findings of the study, reminding people, “The older brain has experience and knows that nothing is gained by making haste. Aging is not necessarily associated with a significant loss in cognitive function.” So, if you don’t know how to solve your problems in life, ask your grandparents for help. Their wisdom will help you find great solutions!     출처: 어린이 영자신문 키즈타임즈 (www.kidstimes.net)