Brain aging research : What if an aging brain could respond to a change in its surroundings? In 2012, scientists from Arizona State University and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences found that older honeybees could regain some of their lost ability to learn after taking on social tasks normally performed by younger bees.
The findings suggested that brain aging in honeybees may be more flexible than previously thought. They also raised questions about whether similar social influences could affect the molecular processes involved in age-related cognitive decline in humans.
