Your Brain Is Like a Muscle: Use It

When you think of learning, you may think back to your days in grade school or college. But learning throughout life is vital for keeping your brain healthy as you age.

“Your brain is like a muscle,” says Daniel G. Amen, a psychiatrist based in Costa Mesa, Calif., and author of Change Your Brain, Change Your Life. “The more you use it, the more you can actually make new connections.”

The brain works optimally when presented with new information and skills. And the more challenging the information is to master, the better. When University of Texas, Dallas researchers assigned adults to different activities in a November 2013 study, only those who learned a new skill, such as quilting or how to use the image-modifying computer software Photoshop, showed significant gains in memory function. Those who just watched movies or described favorite vacations didn’t realize the brain benefits.

Here’s how it works: When you learn something new, fibers called dendrites branch out of neurons or nerve cells in your brain like twigs on a tree, forming dense networks. Electrical signals transmit information from one neuron to another across a small gap at the contact point called a synapse.

“When you’re building those connections, you’re actually changing the shape and structure of neurons,” Amen says. “You’re pumping them up and giving them more contact points to learn new things.” Although some synapses are weak, learning makes them stronger.

If you’re depending on crossword puzzles to keep your mind strong, you may want to rethink the strategy, Amen says, since doing the same thing over and over again isn’t challenging enough to work that magic. “It’s like going to the gym and just doing bicep curls,” he says. “Your brain has many different parts, so you want to engage it in different ways. The act of mixing it up makes the brain more agile.”