Learning to Understand Learning

Healthy Living
Alessandra Cerroni

Learning is an important part of our lives. However, education has historically catered mainly to children and young adults, because the brain was thought to be at its most malleable during the formative years.

Although the learning process during this time is extremely important, the brain’s development is no longer thought to be “hard-wired” and immutable thereafter.

Rather, the brain is an extremely adaptable organ that can be compared to any other set of muscles in the body. It is flexible and adaptable, given the right training.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, a 19th century writer and physician, seemed to have an eye on the future when he said: “Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” According to studies that look at the brain’s capability to “re-map” and continually reshape, it is essential to exercise the brain with intellectual activities.

These developments come in tandem with exciting innovations in the field of information communications technology, which offer more convenient alternatives to the traditional classroom.

For instance, the Internet has helped break down all types of barriers, allowing busy professionals, at home parents, and seniors alike to log into the world of online classes through online and distance education programs, from any computer with an Internet connection, regardless of mobility problems or other restrictions.

Take a look at the “Computers and Learning” section of the Seniors Canada government website for more information on distance learning and other education resources: http://www.seniors.gc.ca/

Along with intellectual endeavours, older people are encouraged to immerse themselves in new experiences and activities. Much like exercising the muscles in your arm in a new way, one must present the brain with a type of resistance or new experience that allows the strengthening of its reasoning and understanding capabilities.

Physical exercise is also believed to help prevent age-related memory deficiencies, such as Alzheimer’s, although studies are not conclusive. Exercise seems to help “increase the number of connections between neurons, and the birth of neurons in the hippocampus, a brain region important for memory… and improving overall cognitive functioning.”

(NY Times, Exercise on the Brain, By SANDRA AAMODT and SAM WANG Published: November 8, 2007)

Although it may be difficult later in life to get outside for a walk or to concentrate on a word puzzle due health or mobility problems, thanks to innovations in technology and support in the scientific community there is no better time to invest in life long learning than now.

Consider the use of gadgets such as the Nintendo Wii to get active right from the comfort of your own living room. You may want to help spark your interest in a new topic by listening to a book on tape on the subject, or you may listen to an opera while in the car. All of these are life long learning activities that help maintain and develop neural connections in the brain, and can lead to better memory and a worldly outlook.