We have found the strongest evidence yet that older people can recruit additional brain regions to help perform complex tasks, possibly compensating for age-related changes elsewhere.
Functional segregation underlies cognition but not affected by midlife activities
Brain networks measured by fMRI become less segregated with age, and less segregation is associated with poorer cognition, even after adjusting for age. However, contrary to expectations, segregation does not mediate the positive effect of mid-life activities on late life cognition.