Why it’s so important to keep learning, even into adulthood

When young, we don’t worry so much about the future – or rather, about everything that comes our way. covers the years to come. A “detail” that often escapes our attention is memory. However, as we get older, this concern begins to arise, as do the small memory lapses. And, yes, we can change that and improve our mind with small acts, like continuing to study and doing physical exercises.

With that, we awesome.club, we’ve gathered some facts about our brain that can help make our mind healthier. Check out!

As a child, all the time we are placed to learn new things. After all, from a very early age, we went to school. Day after day we receive an enormous amount of content for our brain to absorb and learn. That’s when we don’t do extracurricular activities, that is, we gain even more learning. But the period when the brain develops the most happens earlier, still in the first part of childhood.

At this stage, everything seems new, from something more basic like learning to walk and talk, to more complex things like playing an instrument or using computers. And for that, we depend on the help of third parties, whether parents, siblings, grandparents or anyone around us. Only in this way do we gain autonomy to carry out certain activities autonomously. So the way the brain develops is affected by a child’s experiences with other people and the world.

The brain’s ability to change and adapt as a result of experience, i.e., interaction with the environment, has a more robust and complicated name, known as neuroplasticity (or brain plasticity). However, despite the name, the explanation has nothing to do with plastic. The nomenclature was given because of the malleable shape of the brain, which is defined as something easily influenced, trained or controlled.

Neuroplasticity is very beneficial for our daily lives, especially in adulthood, when we tend to have a bad memory. It is through it that the brain adapts and promotes changes, such as learning new things and improving existing cognitive abilities.

Improving neuroplasticity is easier than we might think. We can do this by doing simple activities that are sometimes just a click away, such as learning a language, cooking or exercising our creative capacity, such as painting and drawing. It’s in childhood that we are bombarded with information and learning, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only time in life when we can learn something – or rather, when we can learn something. It is possible that we constantly seek to acquire new skills and, consequently, gain new knowledge.

How many times a day do we forget something? It can be a silly detail like “where is that outfit?”, to an important doctor’s appointment. To prevent this from happening, we ended up writing little notes and leaving them on the fridge or somewhere visible. Even so, it would be best if our memory did not fail at important moments.

A study carried out by the US National Institute on Aging points out that older people who learn certain functions, such as quilting or photography, tend to have their memory improved. After three months of testing, participants who worked at it for more than 16 hours a week for three months had improved sporadic memory. On the other hand, those who participated in non-intellectual activities with a social group or performed low-demand cognitive tasks without social contact fared worse.

Mental work not only prevents a brain disorder related to memory, but also helps in valuing the individual. After all, through studies, the older person becomes aware of and participates in the environment. “If they feel more valued, they remember that they are capable of doing whatever they want. Intellectual development is an important tool for dealing with this aging process,” says gerontologist and coordinator of the Open University for the Elderly (Unati-Unisuam), Rose Soares.

The learning process does not stop at some point in life, quite the contrary. It can be invested throughout our trajectory, even in old age. Therefore, it is never too late to learn something new.

Those who believe that only mental work helps in a better performance of the brain are mistaken. For a future full of memory, the physical part also helps. Exercise increases blood flow to the brain, and the increase is not only beneficial, but essential for our bodies. Through it, all the nutrients necessary for brain work to fulfill its function are provided. This fact improves the ability to store information.

Therefore, the ideal thing is that physical exercise is also on your agenda, after all, one helps the other. Some studies indicate that the recommendation is 120 to 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. Any activity that gets your heart rate up, such as a treadmill, bicycle, or brisk walk, counts.

Are you one of those forgetful ones or those who write down everything, even resorting to a diary to help you? Do you prefer physical or intellectual activities? What do you like to do in your free time to improve your health? Share with us in the comments!