Mellowing out as we get older

From Johns Hopkins University Health Publishing:

Although memory function may decline with age, emotional stability increases, according to a study reported in the Journal of Neuroscience. Forget the myth that older people are crankier than younger ones. In fact, the reverse is true: Age brings increased emotional equanimity.

Australian researchers evaluated 142 people between the ages of 12 and 79. All were in good physical health and had no current or past history of mental illness. The study participants were asked to complete a questionnaire that assesses emotional stability, with higher scores suggesting more positive emotions.

In addition, the individuals' brain activity was assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while they viewed images of various facial expressions. Scores on the questionnaire kept in step with age, rising along with seniority. The brain fMRI images revealed that the older adults' emotional reactions were primarily influenced by the medial prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain needed for conscious thought.

In contrast, the emotional reactions of younger people were centered in the amygdala, a part of the brain implicated in automatic fear responses. This reorganization of the brain's emotion system may happen as older people integrate their accumulated life experience and find meaning and patterns in that experience.