​​Life-long learning keeps brain active

Highlights:

• The brain remains structurally and functionally dynamic during life due to the neuroplasticity
• Learning different skills - languages, sports, music - has varying effects on the brain, the type of skill and continual practice are crucial
• Age-related cognitive decline can be partially prevented via learning

Introduction

The human brain forms completely to adulthood, and no lifestyle changes affect its functionality, or so was thought up until the second half of the 20th century. Modern findings of neurophysiology proved the concept of the static and rigid adult brain to be wrong and demonstrated that learning carries multiple benefits for people of all ages. Life-long learning influences brain functionality and health in many ways, enhancing our ability to live a happier, fulfilled, and conscious life. Brain activity can be improved at any age through exploring new things and trying new activities. Moreover, learning can help prevent and slow age-related cognitive decline.

How learning restructures our brain

The nature of knowledge influences how our brain changes and, depending on what we learn, our brains change differently. The most famous example is the changes in London cabmen’s hippocampus size and structure (1). Mastering the intense training program, which requires remembering more than 26,000 streets and thousands of points of interest, leads to changes in hippocampal gray matter and brain dynamics. However, after cab drivers retire, their hippocampus gradually shrinks back and lowers its activity. The conclusion is that both the amount and the type of information are important. The four main types of learning are auditory, visual, read-write, and kinesthetic, and each of these types has a specific effect on a brain of a learner. But many activities are located at the intersection of these learning types.

Learning foreign languages is an example of a vastly popular learning activity, which includes elements of auditory, read-write, and visual learning, and has been a subject of multiple studies. Learning a second language for several months can increase the density and volume of gray matter, as well as hippocampus size and connections in the white matter (2,3). Music training is another unique set of skills, which involves highly specific motor learning, error learning, complex information processing, and multisensory feedback (4) – so visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning combined.

Is learning sports beneficial for a brain?

A kinesthetic component is an important part of learning, and a combination of complex motor and cognitive skills is exceptionally beneficial for brain activity. To reach maximum efficiency training has to combine physical and cognitive components (5). Such combination improves cognitive function through neuroplasticity in healthy older adults and those with mild cognitive impairments (6). Chao et al. (7) studied the effect of exercises with a high and low cognitive load on brain performance. The low cognitive load group was walking on a treadmill, while the high load group was learning aerobic dance, switching between movements, memorizing new movements and their order. They demonstrated that, only after four months of exercise with high cognitive load, the overall cognition function was improved, but no such improvement was observed for the group with low cognitive load. It is assumed that exercise with high cognitive load (dancing, cyber cycling, juggling, coordination exercises) results in a more positive influence on brain function (8) than those with low cognitive load (treadmill walking, traditional stationary bikes).

Learning and age-related cognitive decline

The typical aging process is linked to a constant decline in cognitive function and changes in important brain structures, such as frontal areas, hippocampus, and the entorhinal cortex (9,10). These changes affect all types of memory as well as processing brain function and are strongly associated with the different kinds of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. The attempt to slow down the progression of these diseases, especially Alzheimer’s, via pharmacological interventions up to date had little success. However, preventive behavioral stimulation, such as learning, is one of the possible ways to address these age-related cognitive issues (11).

Numerous neuroplasticity-enhancing learning interventions have shown a positive effect on cognitive aging, including math exercises (12) and brain training (13). These cognitive improvements tend to persist over time and have been observed not only in healthy adults but also in those with mild cognitive impairment and even in those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (14).

Another type of learning showing persistent age-related benefits is bilingualism. So-called “bilingual advantage” is linked to improvement in executive function, cognitive flexibility, and delayed onset of dementia (15), and multilingualism is supposed to have an even higher correlation with cognitive ability (16). Research has shown that bilinguals possess higher white matter integrity in old age than monolingual speakers (17), possibly due to increased structural brain connectivity. The cognitive decline for bilinguals was also slower than for those who speak only one language.

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Social and psychological benefits of life-long learning

Research shows that, except for health benefits, life-long learning includes improvements in social life and feeling of self-purpose, being thus an essential part of “active aging”. Multiple local and global initiatives exist to ensure access to various informal learning opportunities. One example is Universities of the Third Age – sociocultural centers where adults and older people may acquire new knowledge or validate the knowledge they already have. Another example is a pilot study by the school of teaching and communication in Denmark, which offers people with early-stage dementia the possibility to attend classes in cognitive training, music, art, and woodcraft (18). Such prolonged education programs provide evidence of life-long learning benefits for decision-making, cognitive function, and social interactions.

Life-long learning also improves a general sense of well-being based on survey data from 416 adults (aged 60 and above) enrolled in non-formal courses in a public education program in Canada (19). The study of older women involved in a life-long learning institute in the USA yielded similar results, showing increased life satisfaction and a sense of community in the participants (20).

Recommendations

There is no need to suggest your patients or clients to go into formal education or intense learning routines to use the benefits of life-long learning. Simple new things that will challenge a brain can be recommended, and there is a list of possible options:

• Taking new routes to work or home every couple of days. Learning new spatial orientation is learning, and it is one of the easiest ways to keep the brain fit while not overloaded;
• Starting learning a new language;
• Learning a new musical instrument or taking up painting;
• Engaging in combined mind-body routines such as dancing, yoga, juggling, or any cognitive-loaded sport;
• Learning a poem by heart every couple of days.

Another important thing that your patients or clients must be aware of is that the proper approach to learning is needed to obtain the optimal effect. The frequency of learning sessions is debated, but general recommendations for successfully learning a new skill are to practice at least a couple of times a week. Optimal learning requires a one-task focus, and you can recommend different time management techniques that can help to reach that. Among other recommendations are using learning cycles no longer than 90 minutes, getting immediate feedback, and utilizing spaced repetitions.

For maximum efficiency, learning also should be relieved of stress and pressure. It was shown that stress combined with learning decreases performance and impairs memory formation (21). Sleep deprivation disrupts the learning and memorization processes, so enough sleep is required (22). It is essential to keep in mind that life-long learning is not only a source of health benefits but also a source of joy and curiosity.

Conclusions

In the modern world, we cannot and should not divide learning into time to acquire knowledge (school) and time to apply knowledge (work). Our brains’ dynamic and changing nature requires life-long learning to be healthier longer. Except for health benefits, learning brings a sense of fulfillment, joy, and social connectedness. Life-long learning expands our ability to be more resilient, accept changes, and move along with the fast pace of life.

References: 

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2.         Stein M, Federspiel A, Koenig T, Wirth M, Strik W, Wiest R, et al. Structural plasticity in the language system related to increased second language proficiency. Cortex. 2012 Apr;48(4):458–65.

3.         Rossi E, Cheng H, Kroll JF, Diaz MT, Newman SD. Changes in White-Matter Connectivity in Late Second Language Learners: Evidence from Diffusion Tensor Imaging. Front Psychol. 2017 Nov 21;8:2040.

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8.         Meng X, Li G, Jia Y, Liu Y, Shang B, Liu P, et al. Effects of dance intervention on global cognition, executive function and memory of older adults: a meta-analysis and systematic review. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2020 Jan;32(1):7–19.

9.         Park DC, Lautenschlager G, Hedden T, Davidson NS, Smith AD, Smith PK. Models of visuospatial and verbal memory across the adult life span. Psychol Aging. 2002;17(2):299–320.

10.       Bertoni-Freddari C, Fattoretti P, Solazzi M, Giorgetti B, Di Stefano G, Casoli T, et al. Neuronal Death versus Synaptic Pathology in Alzheimer’s Disease. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2003 Dec;1010(1):635–8.

11.       Selkoe DJ. Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease. Science. 2012 Sep 21;337(6101):1488–92.

12.       Kawashima R, Okita K, Yamazaki R, Tajima N, Yoshida H, Taira M, et al. Reading Aloud and Arithmetic Calculation Improve Frontal Function of People With Dementia. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2005 Mar 1;60(3):380–4.

13.       Ball K, Berch DB, Helmers KF, Jobe JB, Leveck MD, Marsiske M, et al. Effects of Cognitive Training Interventions With Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA. 2002 Nov 13;288(18):2271.

14.       Belleville S, Clément F, Mellah S, Gilbert B, Fontaine F, Gauthier S. Training-related brain plasticity in subjects at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Brain. 2011 Jun;134(6):1623–34.

15.       Bialystok E. The bilingual adaptation: How minds accommodate experience. Psychol Bull. 2017 Mar;143(3):233–62.

16.       Kavé G, Eyal N, Shorek A, Cohen-Mansfield J. Multilingualism and cognitive state in the oldest old. Psychol Aging. 2008;23(1):70–8.

17.       Luk G, Bialystok E, Craik FIM, Grady CL. Lifelong Bilingualism Maintains White Matter Integrity in Older Adults. J Neurosci. 2011 Nov 16;31(46):16808–13.

18.       Ward A, Alberg Sorensen K, Kousgaard H, Schack Thoft D, Parkes J. Going back to school – An opportunity for lifelong learning for people with dementia in Denmark (Innovative practice). Dementia. 2020 Oct;19(7):2461–8.

19.       Narushima M, Liu J, Diestelkamp N. Lifelong learning in active ageing discourse: its conserving effect on wellbeing, health and vulnerability. Ageing Soc. 2018 Apr;38(4):651–75.

20.       Talmage CA, Ross A, Searle MS, Knopf RC. The Social and Cognitive Transformation of Older Adult Women: an Analysis of Community Well-Being for a University-Based Lifelong Learning Community. Int J Community Well-Being. 2018 Nov;1(1):11–31.

21.       Schwabe L, Wolf OT. Learning under stress impairs memory formation. Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2010 Feb;93(2):183–8.

22.       Ruch S, Valiadis M, Gharabaghi A. Sleep to learn. Sleep. 2021 Aug 13;44(8):zsab160.

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