Learning something new is not easy. It can be a challenge. It’s sometimes uncomfortable, it can be onerous, and some of the time, it’s downright grueling. But it has one thing going for it—it’s good for your brain.
Every time we learn something new our brain forms new connections and neurons. These adaptations make existing neural pathways stronger or weaker, resulting in the brains’ “plasticity”.
Dendrites, branching, tree-like structures, which are extensions of nerve cells, or neurons in your brain, make this possible.
The dendrites in your neurons get signals from other dendrites, and the signals travel along the axon, which connects them to other neurons and dendrites. These signals travel fast, often in only fractions of a second, and many of the signals are sent without the brain being aware of the action.
Everything you learn goes first to your short-term memory. Some of it transfers later to long-term storage in your brain. Sleep is often important to transferring something from short to long-term memory, which is why memory loss can occur with sleep deprivation.
Because of how memories travel across many synapses and neurons, degradation that can render memories incomplete once they are transferred often occurs.
Myelin, the insulating layer, or sheath made up of protein and fatty substances that form around nerves, including those in the brain and spinal cord, allows electrical impulse to transmit quickly and efficiently along the nerve cells.
When you learn new things, myelin makes the signals in our neurons move faster, especially at older ages. New learning helps more myelin get onto our nerve axons so that our brain is more connected and feels like it works faster and better. Myelin works especially well when a new experience is repeated multiple times, as in when we practice something or repeat it every day or every few days.
Learning something new is often exciting for the learner. Novel experiences cause a rush of dopamine, which not only makes learning seem exciting but also makes you want to repeat the experience. Dopamine is also involved in experiences like love, addictive behaviors, and attention deficit disorder, among many other things.
If you want to stimulate the growth of myelin and improve your brain, here’s what you can do:
For your memory:
- Make a list — grocery items, things to do, or anything else that comes to mind — and memorize it. An hour or so later, see how many items you can recall. Make the list as challenging as possible for the greatest mental stimulation.
- Draw a map from memory. After returning home from visiting a new place, try to draw a map of the area. Repeat this exercise each time you go somewhere new.
For your physical coordination:
- Brush your teeth or comb your hair with your opposite hand.
- File, cut your nails or apply nail polish with your opposite hand.
- Take up a new hobby such as tai chi, knitting, drawing, painting, or playing video games—anything that involves fine motor skill.
- Learn a new sport. Start doing an athletic exercise. Try yoga, golf, tennis, swimming, or aerobics.
- Go dancing. When you dance to music you love it’s pretty impossible to be in a bad mood. That’s because dance is exercise and exercise releases endorphins. Endorphins react with receptors in the brain to reduce the perception of pain and increase pleasure.
For your everyday life:
- Learn how to cook a new cuisine. Cooking uses a number of senses — smell, touch, sight, and taste — that involve different parts of the brain. Plus, you’ll use cognitive skills like planning the meal, problem-solving, crafting a grocery list, multi-tasking, and organizing.
- Drive home via a different route. Try not to consult your phone (general positioning system) unless you are completely lost.
- Create word pictures. Visualize the spelling of a word in your head, and then try to think of other words that begin (or end) with the same two letters.
- Do math in your head. Figure out problems without the aid of a pencil, paper, or computer. You can make this exercise more difficult — and athletic — by walking at the same time.
- Immerse yourself in music: Learn to play a musical instrument or join a choir. Learning such new and complex skills is good for the aging brain. An extra challenge is memorizing lyrics without the music.
- Learn a new language: The listening and hearing involved in learning a new language stimulates the brain. Some studies associate being bilingual with a lower risk of developing dementia.
When You Don’t Learn New Things
A British research study showed that being bored (which occurs when you don’t learn new things very often) can be dangerous to your health. People in the study who reported being bored over a long period of time had heart disease rates more than twice as high as those who did not report boredom. Not having new experiences and learning new things will slow your brain down and make it less responsive. Adult learning is good for your health and has been shown to slow the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s and dementia, as well as just preventing general slowing of your mental faculties. The more you learn along the way, the more your brain will change and the more “plastic” it will be.
It is important to note that your brain will continue changing right up until the end of your life. Whether or not you choose to take advantage of the brain’s amazing capabilities to adapt and learn is up to you. As for me, I’m doing the best I can to explore my brains’ potential, no matter what my age!
I like the idea of learning a lot of new things. It makes life richer to have a variety of interests.
I sure does make life a lot more interesting, Anneli. I think it adds more spice to life!
Sure does!
I practice doing simple addition and subtraction in my head. I read every day. I am trying to learn to crochet. I am teaching myself how to make crepes. Not easy!! I walk every day and do Ageless Grace and NIA. I make sleep a priority too. This was a great post. Thank you so much.
Yes, Linda, it’s a good idea to just put your calculator away. But learning to crochet! That will get your mind going! I don’t know what Ageless grace is, but it sounds intriguing. Is there a website?
agelessgrace.com
there might be a class in your area, or you can ask someone at your Senior Center. I do a class online twice a week with a woman from Charlottesville, VA. It is done in a chair, bare-footed, and you work on brain fitness using 21 different tools. It is creative and playful. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Yep, that’s why I’m learning Spanish. I now stream videos with Spanish subtitles while I exercise. We live in an amazing time
That’s ingenious!
Thanks, Rachel. Good to hear from you!
Learning a new language is one of the key stimulators of brain activity. And doing it while exercising is doubly beneficial. I agree, so many things are available for self improvement today!
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