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Older Pianists

NPR's Wendy Schmelzer reports on a study from the current Journal of Experimental Psychology that says age might not matter as much as we think when it comes to skills that require certain kinds of dexterity. Researchers say that as we age we lose mental and physical ability. By the time we reach sixty most of us have slowed our reaction times by as much as fifty percent. But now studies show that in cases where elders master a skill requiring a fast pace and then continue practicing it, age may not matter very much.

Copyright 1996 NPR