Research proves: as people age, they become more empathetic and friendly
New scientific studies conducted by an international team of neurobiologists led by the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience at the Norwegian University of Natural Sciences reveal fascinating insights into how human emotional perception evolves with age.
According to these findings, our perception of others tends to shift positively over time: older individuals generally exhibit greater friendliness and openness towards those around them.The research involved 144 participants divided into two groups: younger adults with an average age of approximately 26 years and senior adults averaging over 71 years.
They underwent psychological and neurobiological assessments while viewing photographs showing different facial expressions—happy, neutral (50% benign, 50% threatening), and angry.
Participants were asked to identify the emotions displayed and rate their confidence in their responses.Special attention was given to activity in the blue spot of the brain — the locus coeruleus, responsible for noradrenaline production and critical for alarm signaling.
Using high-resolution 7-tesla MRI imaging, scientists discovered that in older adults, activation of this region was significantly higher when viewing faces with ambiguous emotions.
This explains why elderly individuals are more likely to interpret faces as friendly and less prone to fear, whereas younger people tend to perceive them as threatening.The study suggests that as the brain ages, there is a reorganization of cognitive resources: younger individuals rely more on the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex for rapid emotion recognition, whereas in older age, the activation of the locus coeruleus compensates for cognitive slowing.
Despite neural decline, the ability to analyze emotional expressions is preserved.Interestingly, the research also revealed a strong correlation between emotional well-being and the tendency to interpret facial expressions positively among seniors.
Better emotional health was associated with a higher likelihood of perceiving mixed emotions as benign.
This phenomenon indicates that with age, people tend to reduce anxiety and maintain empathy, although this also carries potential risks, such as underestimating threats.Findings were published in the prestigious journal JNeurosci, opening new avenues for improving mental health support and understanding emotional adaptation mechanisms among the elderly.
Moreover, ongoing neurobiological research aims to leverage these insights to develop advanced treatments for dementia and other cognitive impairments often accompanying aging.