Unfortunately, we cannot prevent aging itself. But according to a study, we can rejuvenate our cognitive abilities in senior age to such an extent that they can be compared to students.
Have the brain power of a young adult in your late 60s? It probably doesn’t work that way. But a study published in the journal “Aging & Mental Health” now shows that with certain activities we can actually train cognitive skills such as attention and memory so that they can be compared to those of young students. And what do we have to do about it?
Simultaneous learning of three new skills
As we get older, it becomes increasingly difficult for many people to tackle new things. Questions arise like: Can I still do this? What if I fail? Do I even need this? These doubts are natural – and yet we should strive not to let them take control. The study by neuroscientist Rachel Wu and her team shows how healthy it is to learn new hobbies as you get older.
Specifically, according to the results, there are three skills that we should relearn as we get older – all at the same time, just as children or students learn simultaneously. With just one skill, mental decline can be stopped or at least slowed down, but when learning three new things simultaneously, cognitive performance rejuvenates enormously – and can be compared to that of young students.
Learning time of 15 hours per week
The results were determined based on experiments with around 30 people with an average age of late 60s. Initial tests of their memory performance revealed that their cognitive abilities had already declined. The subjects then learned three new, self-selected skills for 15 hours per week (or more) for three months. In courses and at home, they learned, among other things, how a tablet works, what is important when taking photos and even a completely new language.
In each of the cases, a significant increase in cognitive performance was observed – on average two to three times, in some cases even more. And extremely exciting and relevant: the effect was still observed after a year. So what are we waiting for: Which three skills do we want to learn in the next few weeks?
Sources used: tandfonline.com, universityofcalifornia.edu