Cognitive Learning
We spend much of our younger years developing our brains by learning new activities and mastering skills we need for our lives, employment and leisure. It wasn’t that long ago that people believed that we were born with a set number of neurons (brain cells) and that they gradually died over the course of our lives.
In recent decades, however, neuroscience has completely dismissed this idea. Instead, neuroscientists have shown that neuroplasticity allows us to change our brains and grow new neural pathways that enable us to function in lots of new ways, and to compensate if an area gets damaged. So cognitive learning is just as important in our middle and senior years. Use this opportunity to develop new knowledge, skills and abilities! It will keep you healthy and active and, in particular, reduce your risk of getting dementia.