Why it’s harder to lie as you get older

Millennials are better liars than the elderly.

That’s according to a new study, which found that 70-year-olds struggled to falsely describe an object they had never seen far more than 20-year-olds, according to Daily Mail.

Our brain function declines as we age, making it harder for elderly people to keep track of their fibs, scientists said.

Researchers from Brandeis University published the study.

Brain scans taken using an electroencephalogram (EEG) found that millennials and the elderly gave similar cognitive responses when telling the truth.

 However, the brain of a pensioner was noticeably less able to cope when they were asked to lie.

The study’s authors suggest in the paper that this means lying requires significant brain power and cognitive control.

This higher level of mental capacity has been known to decline as a person ages.

Participants in the study were asked by researchers to lie by falsely describing something they hadn’t seen.

They were divided in two two groups – young and old – with a median age of 75 and 20.  

This untruthful process relies heavily on complex mental processes to create a believable untruth, which is more challenging for older people.

For grannies hoping to get away with a fib, the repercussions of lying may far outweigh the benefits of a little white lie. 

However, the study’s authors note that lying by denial (feigning amnesia, for example) may be less taxing on the brain.

N.H.Kh