LONDON: Contrary to common belief, it is possible to teach old dogs, owls and perhaps people new tricks as long as it is done slowly.

Scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine in the United States have turned the old adage on its head by showing that owls adapt better when taught in small steps.

They believe their findings, published in the science journal Nature, could help doctors improve techniques used to teach adults who have suffered brain injuries.

“Instead of asking the owls to learn in one large step, we broke the problem down into small steps,” researcher Brie Linkenhoker said in a statement.

“We found that they could learn substantially more this way.”

The scientists fitted owls, who develop a mental map of their world to align sounds and sights for hunting prey at night, with lenses that shifted their visual world.

They discovered that young owls adapted much better than the older birds because their brains responded differently.

But when the scientists changed the lens on the older owls and shifted their vision in small increments the birds coped better and adjusted almost as quickly as the young owls.

Eric Knudsen, who contributed to the research, said a better understanding of how mature brains work could improve the recovery of patients who have suffered a brain injury or stroke.

“A lot of therapy is done without insight into how the brain works,” he said.—Reuters