Abnormal Support Cells in the Brain Linked to Lower Problem-Solving Ability in Older Adults
A USC-led team examined hippocampal tissue surgically removed from 29 patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Older patients tended to have more abnormal immature astroglia — star-shaped cells that support neurons — and higher counts of these cells were associated with poorer performance on tests of fluid intelligence, the ability to solve new problems. The study is observational and cannot show that the cells cause the decline, and because it was done in epilepsy patients, the finding is a lead for future research rather than a proven explanation of normal aging.
Source: Medical Xpress
Maybe the Aging Brain Isn't Declining — It May Be Rewiring Toward Wisdom
In a 2026 framework paper in Perspectives on Psychological Science, University of Arizona researchers propose an "adaptive aging hypothesis": as the brain ages, it shifts emphasis from the hippocampus, which records fine details of new experiences, toward the frontal cortex, which extracts overall meaning and connects experiences to existing knowledge. The result is a natural reorganization — less precision about names and dates, more command of patterns and accumulated knowledge — that may suit older adults to teaching, mentoring, and storytelling. This is a theoretical synthesis drawing on molecular, imaging, and animal evidence rather than a single experiment, so it proposes a way of understanding cognitive aging rather than proving one.
Source: Association for Psychological Science
Critical Thinking Alone Didn't Protect Students From Tech-Related Stress
In a survey of 340 university students in Peru, researchers used structural equation modeling to examine links among critical thinking, confidence in handling AI-related academic tasks, and technostress. Critical thinking had no significant direct link to lower technostress; instead, students with stronger critical-thinking dispositions reported higher confidence in using AI for academic work, which in turn was associated with higher technostress — possibly because confident students engage more with AI-mediated work and face more technology-related demands. Because the data are cross-sectional self-reports, the results show statistical relationships only, not causal effects, and the authors' explanation about engagement was not directly measured.
Source: ScienMag