Key points from article :
Certain cognitive skills decline significantly with age, even without dementia.
Working memory is used to hold information for short periods while we are making decisions or performing calculations.
It is also crucial for recognising faces, doing arithmetic and navigating a new environment.
In older people, brain activity in prefrontal and temporal regions tends to be less tightly synchronised.
42 over 60-year-olds were subjected to 25 minutes of non-invasive brain stimulation.
After the intervention, working memory improved to match those in a younger group.
The effect appeared to last for 50 minutes after the stimulation.
Larger studies needed to confirm the findings and assess how they might be applied clinically.
The study was published in Nature Neuroscience.
