Growing old can actually BOOST your brainpower

Like a fine wine, some parts of the human brain can take decades to mature and reach their peak, researchers have found. They say rather than peaking in our twenties, in fact some areas do not reach their full potential until we grow old. In fact, the ability to evaluate other people's emotional states, the peak occurred much later, in the 40s or 50s. The ability to evaluate other people's emotional states does not peak until we are in our 40s or 50s, researchers said. 'At any given age, you're getting better at some things, you're getting worse at some other things, and you're at a plateau at some other things,' said Joshua Hartshorne of MIT's Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and one of the paper's authors.