Aging is associated with a shift in brain activity. Consider something called Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in Older Adults (HAROLD): the half of the prefrontal cortex that is less active in youth increases in activity as we age. In turn, this increases the overall activity in the prefrontal cortex. And older adults tend to use both brain hemispheres—called bilateralization—for tasks that activate only one hemisphere in younger adults. The best-performing older adults are most likely to show bilateralization.
