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Wisdom

News and Research:

• Young brains lack the wisdom of their elders, clinical study shows - Science Daily, 8/25/11 - "We now have neurobiological evidence showing that with age comes wisdom and that as the brain gets older, it learns to better allocate its resources. Overall, our study shows that Aesop's fable about the tortoise and the hare was on the money: being able to run fast does not always win the race -- you have to know how to best use your abilities. This adage is a defining characteristic of aging. ... the young brain is more reactive to negative reinforcement than the older one. When the young participants made a mistake and had to plan and execute a new strategy to get the right answer, various parts of their brains were recruited even before the next task began. However, when the older participants learned that they had made a mistake, these regions were only recruited at the beginning of the next trial, indicating that with age, we decide to make adjustments only when absolutely necessary. It is as though the older brain is more impervious to criticism and more confident than the young brain"
• Emotional effects of heavy combat can be lifelong for veterans - Science Daily, 10/6/10 - "heavy combat exposure at a young age had a detrimental effect on physical health and psychological well-being for about half of the men well into their 80s ... about half of the veterans who experienced a high level of combat showed signs of stress-related growth at mid-life, leading to greater wisdom and well-being in old age than among veterans who witnessed no combat"