Yes. Humans will imprint more information in thier brains in the first 5-6 years of life than the rest of thier lives. They learn a new language, how to use thier bodies, how to interact with people, all of which are MAJOR things to learn. It's been proven that the younger humans are, the easier it is for them to learn things and retain that knowledge.

Not always. 1) Here is an article discussing this in the issue of language learning skills: "myths and misconceptions: - Children learn second languages quickly and easily - The younger the child, the more skilled in acquiring a second language [and some more]" http://lmri.ucsb.edu/resources/ncrcdsll/mclaughlin.htm 2) "Adults, assuming they aren't interfered with and have managed to (a) develop their deductive, inductive, associative, and intuitive thinking skills, as well as their "critical" faculties influencing judgment and facilitating the analytical selection process, and (b) have amassed a broader and deeper knowledge base, thus making it easier to build on and add and properly categorize new information, will generally outperform children who lack or possess inferior versions of (a) and (b)." Source: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessforum.pl?kpage=1576 3) "[Dean] Kamen then debunks the theory that kids learn faster than adults. That’s not the case, he says – it’s just that adults are slower to unlearn obsolete or incorrect knowledge. Quoting himself, he says “It’s not what you don’t know that inhibits innovation – it’s what you know that just ain’t so”. It’s a combination of ego and that nasty human tendency to resist change that keeps us working with information that just isn’t correct, and that’s far more dangerous to innovation than the simple lack of knowledge." Source: http://angryengineer.blogspot.com/2005_11_01_archive.html 4) Here a case where Kids could learn faster (ice skating): http://www.iceskatingforum.com/recreational/Why_do_kids_learn_faster_85635.html