More precise brain patterns linked to better learning in adults
Among 251 younger and older adults, 76 underwent brain scans that linked more precise representations of choices to better learning.
251 participants, cohort study
Limit: Brain-scan results relied on only 76 participants
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In an observational study, 251 younger and older adults—158 women and 93 men—learned the values of four houses through trial and error. Of these, 76 completed the task while undergoing brain scans. Older adults performed less accurately.
Among scanned participants, more precise representations of the houses in the posterior hippocampus, the rear part of a brain region involved in memory, were associated with greater accuracy across age groups. The researchers found no evidence that these representations were less precise in older adults. Older adults instead showed less closely linked activity between this region and the medial prefrontal cortex, a brain area involved in decision-making. The strength of this link correlated with accuracy.
Why it matters
The work addresses whether age-related differences in learning the value of choices reflect less precise brain representations or altered links between brain regions.
Caveats
Comparing younger and older groups does not show how the same individuals change as they age. Brain-scan findings came from 76 participants, not the full sample.
The paper
University of Pennsylvania
The Journal of Neuroscience, Jun 27, 2026, Open access
