Researchers revealed that age-related decline in intelligence can be attributed to the deterioration in the visual processing speed of the elderly.

In an experiment conducted by the University of Edinburgh scientists, 600 healthy older people were shown brief flashes of two different shapes on the screen. The researchers then measured the time it took for the participants to identify one shape from the other.

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The same participants repeated the test when they were 70, 73 and 76. The study sought to test the hypothesis that the "inspection time" or the time it takes or a person to identify something is related to their intelligence.

Stuart Ritchie, of the University of Edinburgh. said the results of the experiment showed that as the ability of the brain to interpret images within a short span of time decreases, so too, does intelligence.

"The typical person who has better-preserved complex thinking skills in older age tends to be someone who can accumulate information quickly from a fleeting glance," Ritchie said.

Researchers explained that smarter people are adept at distinguishing two different images in short flashes.

Measuring inspection time and intelligence and how these might change as a person ages has never been studied, however.

Ritchie said the result of the study was unexpected and they were "surprised" with the relation between the declines.

"Inspection time and the intelligence tests are so very different from one another, we wouldn't have expected their declines to be so strongly connected," Ritchie said.

The result of the research presented a proof that the decline in simple, basic, visual decision-making processes is directly proportional to the decline in a person's decision making skills and general intelligence. 

Tagsvisual processing, old age, intelligence, Science