January 7, 2013
Want the secret to staying young? Babysit the grandkids! Recent studies from Arizona State University have revealed that caring for the young may delay, and perhaps reverse, multiple negative effects of aging in the brain.
Gro Amdam, who studies aging in bees at ASU, states that older bees normally show a swift physical and cognitive decline once their caretaking roles are over. When placed with a new set of young bees to care for, however, the bees showed a complete reversal of dementia and performed as well as the young bees.
According to this article from Scientific American, Amdam has reason to believe that the positive cognitive changes they have noted in older bees that turn their attention back to nursing younger bees could present in human brains as well.