the old and the young utilize different mechanisms to evaluate alternatives:

"This pattern suggests that younger and older adults' comparison processes are influenced by different goals," she said. "Even when older adults show little or no signs of cognitive decline, they make decisions differently than younger adults, in ways that should help them avoid regret."

Labels: decision making, well being

often i'll save a link as a draft for a blog post, particularly if i don't have the time right then to devote to a proper treatment on the subject. however, this is certainly a mistake as i end up with mountains of drafts and few posts! so i'll be posting some brief notes for a while with all of the links i've saved... stay tuned!

up first (as it's the oldest): a great lay explanation of how memory works for those interested from the always-interesting sci. am. mind magazine. an excerpt:

The moment-to-moment memories necessary for operating in the present are handled well by transient adjustments in the strength of individual synapses. But when an event is important enough or is repeated enough, synapses fire to make the neuron in turn fire neural impulses repeatedly and strongly, declaring "this is an event that should be recorded." The relevant genes turn on, and the synapses that are holding the short-term memory when the synapse-strengthening proteins find them, become, in effect, tattooed.

Labels: neuroscience