Americans age better.

AMERICAN old timers are significantly better at memory and awareness tests than their English counterparts, a study has shown.

Research revealed the difference in mental performance between the two groups was equivalent to about 10 years of ageing.

People aged 75 in the US were as smart, on average, as 65-year-olds in England.

The biggest gulf was seen between the "oldest old" - those aged 85 and over - of both countries, said the scientists.

Possible explanations included better diagnosis and treatment of high blood pressure and heart conditions in the US, later retirement and higher education levels among Americans and greater numbers of older people with depression in the UK.

Researchers compared data from two large investigations, the

US "Health and Retirement Study" and the "English Longitudinal Study of Ageing", which looked at mental ability and health among the over 65s.

In total, 8,299 Americans and 5,276 English people took part in the studies.

Participants in each country took tests of immediate and delayed recall of 10 common nouns, such as "hotel", "river", "tree", "skin", "gold", "village", "baby" and "table".

After hearing the words spoken, they were asked to repeat as many as possible immediately. Then after a delay of five minutes answering other survey questions they were asked to repeat the words again.

A 24-point scale of cognitive function was used to rate individuals' performance.

Among the over- 85s, the American group scored 10.1 and the English group 8.3..