New study: Why the ability to multitask wanes with age - San Jose Mercury News

A new
university study shows that as we age, it gets tougher to successfully
"multitask," or remembering to complete one task while distracted by
another.

Using brain scans, a team of UC San Francisco researchers
have discovered that people over age 60 are less agile in switching
from one neural network to another -- which means that brief
attention-grabbing interruptions can undermine their ability to recall
the original task.

"A lot of us feel the need to respond really
rapidly to an email or text message," said Dr. Adam Gazzaley, director
of the UCSF Neuroscience Imaging Center and senior author of the study,
which was published in Monday's issue of the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences.