If you are anything like me, you may have thought to yourself
over the years, Man, I really wish I would have learned another
language in high school, or wondered, Why didn’t my mother put me
in guitar lessons? Now I’ll never be able to learn how to play. You
can’t teach an old dog new tricks, right?
Wrong!
This common misconception couldn’t be further from the truth,
and older minds are still very much capable of learning and mastering new
skills.
Emerging studies in psychology and neuroscience are now proving
this very fact. They are also showing that continuing to learn and
experience new things may actually help you to maintain good mental health and
cognitive functioning as you age. It’s time to reconsider any previously held
beliefs that we are simply incapable of learning new things after a certain
age.
Where Did This Assumption Come
From?
This pessimistic view of the ageing mind can perhaps be traced
back to the ancient Greeks. In his treatise De Memoria et Reminiscentia,
Aristotle compared our memories to a wax tablet; at birth the wax is hot
and pliable and can take on whatever shape you give it, but as it begins to
slowly cool down, it becomes tough and brittle, making it difficult to mould or
imprint upon.
Enter the Exciting Realm of
Neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity refers
to “the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections
throughout life. Neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve
cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their
activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment.”
This essentially means that the brain is capable of regenerating
new cells, a process once thought to be impossible. The concept of
neuroplasticity is not new, but the ability to observe it in action is, thanks
to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology, which has allowed
us to confirm the incredible morphing ability of the brain.
Even though your brain may become a bit more plastic as you age,
certain practices can trigger neuroplasticity and regenerate brain cells.
How to Encourage
Neuroplasticity
Change happens when you make the effort and are motivated to
learn. This conscious effort causes the brain to release the neurochemicals
necessary to facilitate change. In other words, you have to have interest in
what you are doing; it has to be something that you truly want and desire for
yourself. The harder you try and the more motivated and the more alert you are,
the greater that change will be.
Every single instance of learning strengthens and stabilizes the
brain. So, every time your brain strengthens a connection to the mastery of a
skill, it will also weaken connections to neurons that weren’t being used at
that moment. This helps to change or erase some irrelevant or interfering
activity within the brain.
It is important to remember that neuroplasticity is a two-way
street. While you can wasily create positive changes, you can also create
negative ones just as easily. This is important to keep in mind every time
negative self-talk comes up or you tell yourself that you can’t do something.
You are just convincing yourself that you can’t and your brain takes note of
that, which means you’ll have to reprogram that belief system first in order to
accomplish whatever you thought was impossible for yourself.
Amazing Example of the Capacity
of an Older Mind
In 1993, John Basinger decided to memorize the 12 books, 10,565
lines, and 60,000 words that comprise the second edition of John Milton’s Paradise
Lost. Nine years later, he achieved his goal, performing the poem from
memory over a three-day period.
In some recent experiments, Dayna Touron from the University of
North Carolina at Greensboro showed that adults aged 60 and
over frequently underestimate the power of their own memories, and this
lack of confidence — not lack of ability — prevents them from harnessing
the full capacity of their minds.
In one study in particular, Touron’s
participants were asked to compare a reference table of simple word pairings
with a second list and then identify which words had not appeared on the
original table. She saw that the older participants were more reluctant to rely
on their memory and chose instead to cross reference the two tables, despite
this method taking much longer. They seemed unsure of whether they could
actually remember the pairs, so without even trying, opted for the more time
consuming strategy.
A Lesson in Remembering How
Capable We Really Are
This really goes to show that we are capable of anything, so
long as we put our minds to it (no pun intended). Instead of just assuming that
you won’t be able to do something, try believing in yourself, and then
dedicating some time to it, and see how it goes. If you want something badly
enough, you can and will achieve it. We are more powerful than we realize, and
it’s time to start acting like it!