Risk aversion in old age down to changes in brain structure, scans suggest

Findings could support theory that more cautious behaviour as we age could be a result of diminished grey matter

The older we get, the fewer risks we take. But what lies behind people's more cautious behaviour in their older years has been one of the unsolved puzzles of human behaviour.

Now, researchers have found a clue in the form of brain scans which revealed that changes in grey matter can predict risk-taking behaviour more than a person's age itself.