Lesson 5 -Staying Mentally Alert

Train your Brain

Studies show that when the brain is stimulated, tiny branches of brain cells sprout new branches, called dendrites. It might surprise you to know that some parts of memory loss among healthy older people is actually reversible with training.

A younger person can recall more words on a list than an older person can. But with training, an older person can triple their word recall. Not only do they do better than their pre-training scores, but also do better than younger people without training. Lifelong learning may be the greatest antidote you have to mental decline.

Scientists from UCLA’s Brain Research Institute say the important thing is to be actively involved in areas unfamiliar to you. Anything that’s intellectually challenging can serve as a kind of stimulus to growing dendrites and making connections.

 

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