Older people perform better in the morning, study finds

Older adults are better at performing demanding cognitive tasks in the morning, a new study suggests.

When tested in the morning, at their peak period of alertness, seniors activated the same brain regions used to focus attention and tune out distractions as 19 to 30 year olds, researchers found. The findings show “the typical effect of ageing is reduced when older adults are tested at the ideal time of day,” says psychologist Ulrich Mayr. “The brain of an older adult tested in the morning looks more like a young adult,” says Mayr, a professor at the University of Oregon in Eugene, studies ageing and executive control but was not involved in the current research.