Think the brain gets old while you get old? Surprise, it may get even older than you actually realize.
According to a report from Canada’s Simon Fraser University, measurable declines have been shown in cognitive performance starting at the age of 24. That indicates that brainpower could very well be “over the hill” by that time, instead of actually at 40.
The researchers used an interesting method to reach this conclusion, studying performance levels of thousands of players of the Blizzard PC game StarCraft II. The game utilizes a number of strategic elements, making it prime material for such research.
The team found that “looking-doing latency” – a delay in which a player looks at a new section of the game field and then performed an in-game action – is lowest amongst 24-year olds. The lag continues to increase with older players, with a 39-year old player losing up to 30 seconds of cognitive lag, compared to the 24-year old. The researchers also believe that there’s “no evidence that this decline can be attenuated by expertise.”
This isn’t the first time StarCraft II has been used for said research, as the University of Florida previously used it in a class to teach “critical thinking, problem solving, resource management and adaptive decision making.”
Source: Washington Post
