A Lesson A Day, Keeps Old Age at Bay

Most often, people imagine that learning has a stopping point. That one day we will master everything that we need to know. What if we told you that this theoretical endpoint actually causes more harm than it does good?  

There seems to be a belief that adults are not supposed to learn as much as children, that after reaching a certain age, they enter a cognitive pause, much like children do during summer vacation.   

When older adults begin to believe in the negative messages about aging, their lives start reflecting those beliefs, which leads to internalized ageism, which follows the idea that older adults are less competent, can't learn, and must give up things that they hold dear. However, positive age beliefs can counteract those negative effects and lead to better health and a 7.5-year increase in average lifespan. People hold the power to influence their brain health, and by making lifestyle changes, we can help shape cognition in later life.

A question that might come up might be, "Can I still learn new skills even if there has been some cognitive impairment?" Sara Czaja answers this question with a resounding "Yes." As evidenced by her study (Innovation in Aging, Vol. 8, No. 7, 2024), breaking learning into steps and allowing people to practice what they learned significantly improves performance for people with and without mild cognitive impairment. 

Implementing new learning opportunities or cognitive exercises helps nourish neuroplasticity, increase confidence, motivation, and the desire to face new challenges head-on. When offering the same resources to older adults that children receive when learning, such as creating a supportive learning environment with instructors who answer questions and reassure them that mistakes are part of the learning process, scores on cognitive age for older adults are similar to those of middle-aged adults, ranging from 35 to 51 years. After being provided with these resources for one year, these same individuals score like those of undergraduate students.  

There may be some hesitation when addressing the idea of learning something new, whether there seems to be a lack of necessity, relevance, or desire, but evidence suggests that learning can help in facing technological advancements at work, dealing with an ever-growing society, and staying connected.  

Even with all this in mind, learning comes from a desire or curiosity to understand something unknown. Older adults tend to struggle with maintaining focus on something they may view as trivial. People have two kinds of curiosity within them, and only one increases with age. Trait curiosity, the personality trait of being curious by nature, often declines across the lifespan. State curiosity – the feeling of curiosity that people experience when they face something unfamiliar and interesting increases as we cross into middle and older ages.  

Clinical psychologists aim to help older adults find the spark for these curiosities, what matters most, and then guide them on how to acquire new skills in these areas. By learning new ways of relating to people, managing the challenges of daily life, and creating healthy habits, therapy aims to help patients find these areas that need change, set goals, and break tasks into more manageable pieces.  

Every day is a new opportunity to learn and grow. Why let kids have all the fun?