Birdwatching may keep aging brain young, study finds

A famous poet once wrote that hope is a thing with feathers. New research suggests healthy aging may be too.

Researchers found that expertise in bird identification helped maintain neuroplasticity — a key component of cognitive function that declines with age.

Even when the “bird-identification expert” was grey among the feathers, they showed increased structural complexity across various brain regions that could help attenuate age-related cognitive decline, the study found.

MRI scans showed that attention, visual perception and visual recognition — faculties used to identify birds through limited clues — showed more activity during birding, particularly when the participant was unsure which bird they were observing.

The study was led by Erik Wing from the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education in Toronto, who also examined brain organization, known to decline with age. Expert birders’ brains showed better organization than novice birders in the control group.

Additional research suggests birdwatching benefits amateurs as well, as long as they enjoy it. A study of 388 birdwatchers in Poland found those who considered the hobby important experienced greater “psychological restoration” than experts who were less enthusiastic.

The findings suggest curiosity and novelty — central to birdwatching — keep the brain flexible even in old age.”I think there’s a lot of benefit to incorporating more novelty in our lives, in midlife and as we continue to age,” Wing said.