Learning Has Lifelong Benefits

Most people grow up in an environment where education is a natural first step. From childhood through early adulthood, you learn the building blocks of cognitive development and are regularly asked to use your brain to learn skills and methods that will benefit you for life.

When that period is over, however, how many people are still using their brains to develop new skills and take in fresh information? When formal education is complete, most people settle into careers that demand varying degrees of thought, but rarely seek new learning outside of their occupations.

Modern thinking suggests that this trend can be harmful to lifelong cognitive development and health. Where health aging is concerned, the idea of continuous learning can proliferate increased mental, physical, and career health.

Learning Throughout Life Keeps Your Mind Sharp

The brain is like any muscle in numerous ways; if you do not use it, you may start to find that it just doesn’t do as much as it once could. This idea is backed up by field studies about brain activity and its correlation with frequency of disorders that affect cognitive ability, such as Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Some European countries have instituted widespread education programs geared towards adults entering the later stages of their lives, called the University of the Third Age. These innovative education programs treat the experience of adult learning in a way that uses it as a method of self-help and enrichment, integrating courses ranging from social sciences and humanities to learning complex new technologies.

Psychological evidence suggests that programs such as these can benefit the course of health aging by staving off common brain disorders that come about with age. In one notable study, participants that actively sought learning opportunities later in life were happier, more socially engaged and reported a stronger memory as they grew.

Lifelong Learning Leads to Increased Life Enrichment

The benefits of learning beyond the ages of school-based education do not stop at preventing mental health disorders. The experience of seeking new information is, in itself, an enriching journey. People that continue to learn and grow, long into their adult life, find that they remain more active physically and socially, leading to a more fulfilling life experience as a whole.

Additionally, many people do not realize the effect that increased brain activity outside of work can have on their careers. When you do not explore cognition any more than you have to for a living, your job can begin to feel like going through the motions. People that actively seek new information through reading about new subjects or taking adult classes find that the things that they learn can integrate into their career in a way that can be remarkably rewarding.

You can learn at any age; when people refuse to treat using their brain as a chore, they reap the benefits of healthy aging and life enrichment.