Lifelong learning & brain health

Less education in early life is one of 14 dementia risk factors named by the 2024 Lancet Commission. But the Commission also found that staying mentally active in midlife helps, even for people who had little schooling.

A new task at work, mentoring someone, a new recipe or a home project can all stretch your brain. You don’t need formal qualifications.

The Lancet Commission recommends taking part in physical, social and cognitive activities. No single habit is a magic fix.

See Protect your brain for life for all 14 risk factors, Movement & your brain, and Loneliness, connection & your brain.

In this study, 221 adults ages 60 to 90 spent about 15 hours a week for 3 months learning quilting, digital photography or both. Others joined a social group, or did easy activities using things they already knew.

Only the people learning demanding new skills showed better memory at the end. The social group had fun, but didn’t show the same memory gains.

If an activity feels automatic, it may be time to raise the challenge. If it feels overwhelming, break it into smaller pieces.

Ways to add challenge

• Learn a new piece of music, not the one you know by heart
• Move from crosswords to learning to code, draw or knit
• Try a harder level or a new style
• Teach what you know, which forces you to understand it deeply

NIA notes that mentally stimulating activities and physical activity may have a positive effect on memory, and the more variety, the better.

Learning a language means new sounds, new words and new rules. It is the kind of demanding, novel learning that research links to better memory.

It can also open doors to new people, cultures, travel and work.

• A class at a community college or library
• A conversation exchange with a native speaker
• Films, music or podcasts in the language
• Labels on things around your home
• Speaking with family members in a heritage language

Many people grow up speaking more than one language. Using each language regularly, reading and talking with others, keeps those skills active.

The same study linked singing to better brain health. The researchers think the social side of singing in a choir may be part of the reason.

For more on music and mood, see Music & wellbeing.

The Exeter researchers suggested that encouraging older adults to return to music could be part of healthy ageing.

NIA suggests learning or relearning an instrument, or playing in a local band or orchestra.

Research on music, theatre, dance and creative writing has shown promise for better memory, self-esteem and less stress. More research is needed.

See Art & creative expression for ideas.

The ACTIVE trial enrolled about 2,800 adults age 65 and older in 1998–99. People were given training in memory, reasoning or speed of thinking, or no training.

After 10 years, people trained in reasoning and speed of thinking had less decline in those skills than the other groups.

After 20 years, people who had speed training plus booster sessions had a 25% lower risk of a dementia diagnosis. Memory and reasoning training did not show this effect.

In 2016, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said a popular brain-training company had no proof for its claims that its games could improve school and work performance or delay memory decline and dementia. The company agreed to pay $2 million.

Questions to ask

• Does it promise to prevent dementia? Be wary.
• Is it based on published research, or just testimonials?
• Does it get harder as you improve?
• Do you enjoy it?

Puzzles and games are fun and can be social. Just don’t rely on them alone. Learning a real new skill seems to help memory more than familiar activities.

Practice testing, like flashcards or quizzing yourself, was rated highly useful. Rereading, highlighting and summarising, which many people rely on, were rated low.

Try this

• Close the book and say what you remember
• Use flashcards for words or facts
• Explain it to someone else
• Play a song from memory before checking the music

Spreading practice out over days and weeks, rather than cramming, was the other top-rated method.

Twenty minutes a day often works better than two hours once a week. Come back to older material now and then, so it stays fresh.

Good sleep supports learning and memory. See Why we sleep & dream and How memory works & keeping it sharp for more.

A single session of moderate-to-vigorous activity improves thinking on the day you do it. See Movement & your brain.

In a Pew survey, 69% of adults who learned something for personal interest said it opened up new perspectives on their lives.

In the same survey, 64% said learning helped them make new friends, and 43% said it got them more involved in volunteering.

See Loneliness, connection & your brain for why that matters for the brain.

Mistakes are how the brain figures out what to adjust. Expect to feel awkward, and celebrate small wins.

For how the brain changes as you learn, see Your changing brain: neuroplasticity.

Different ways of learning, like listening instead of reading, or hands-on practice, can make a big difference.

See Dyslexia & learning differences for more.

Hearing loss and untreated vision loss are both on the Lancet Commission’s list of dementia risk factors. Getting them checked helps learning and brain health.

See Deaf & hard of hearing and Protect your brain for life.

Plan learning for times of day when you feel clearest, and keep sessions short. See Brain fog: causes and what helps.

Older adults in their 60s, 70s and 80s improved their memory after learning demanding new skills.

Many community colleges and libraries offer free or discounted classes for older adults.

• Book or film clubs
• Community colleges, many with discounts for older adults
• Community and senior centres
• Libraries, which often run free classes
• Local choirs, bands or theatre groups
• Museums, many with free tours and talks
• Online classes you can do from home

NIA suggests teaching a favourite pastime, like photography, chess, baking, woodworking or quilting, to a new generation.

Mentoring someone at work is another way to learn and give at once.

A teen might teach a grandparent a phone skill, and the grandparent might teach a recipe, a song or a language. Everyone learns, and everyone connects.

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