As a life-long rule of thumb, never stop learning. Ever. Learning a new skill not only allows you to use and enjoy that new skill, it’s the neuro equivalent of heaving lifting—only it’s your memory and cognitive function that gets the six-pack abs.
What’s more, learning can improve your brain at almost any age. There’s even a term, “brain plasticity,” to describe how the brain can change, improve and develop through learning a new skill—and the more complex, the better.
Published by Psychological Science, Dr. Denise Parker at the University of Texas at Dallas conducted a study where a test group of 200 older adults were assigned different activities. While some were given easy activities like listening to music or playing simple games, others were given complex tasks like learning Photoshop and digital photography. Each group spent 15 hours a week for three months doing their assigned tasks. The results? Those who did the more complex tasks had a significant improvement in memory and maintained that improvement when tested again a year later.
Now, if there were only a place where you could learn a complex skill like Photoshop or digital photography…
Learn more here: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/05/05/309006780/learning-a-new-skill-works-best-to-keep-your-brain-sharp
