As children we sat in school and dreamed of the day when we would be all grown up and get out of school. As adults we discover that we NEVER get out of school, we just change scenery and how we learn. Learning is an everyday event, whether it’s something we seek out or come upon it by accident.
I always enjoyed listening to stories from people whose family would sit around the dinner table and go over what they had learned that day. One friend in particular said he was always amazed at what was discussed at the dinner table because despite their not realizing it, they all learned something every day — and most often more than just one thing. It was necessarily about school lessons, but lessons in life as well. It is a great bonding exercise, and in this day and age of eat and run it’s a way to stay in touch with each other.
As a memory expert I also find family bonding and learning review as an excellent memory improvement exercise. Review cements the information you have placed into your short-term memory and moves it along into long-term memory.
Everyone learns something new every day and these lessons help us to grow. What we learn, and how we learn it, also helps us to develop new brain connections. The only thing getting in the way of learning is a closed mind. Everyone has the ability within them to store memories as well as make them. They also have the ability to learn new things. The only thing stopping them is the desire to do so. Learning IS a lifelong process!
Whoever said, “Old dogs can’t learn new tricks” wasn’t really paying attention.
Researchers at the University of California at Irvine published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that stated learning promotes brain health in everyone, even seniors (senior citizens, seniors in high school, and seniors in college as well). By using the latest in visualization techniques they set out to prove that everyday learning, not just accelerated learning, gets the neuron connections in the hippocampus (linked to learning and memory) performing at optimum levels. Activated by the neuron receptors, a protein called BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) promotes growth among the connectors responsible for communication among the neurons and promotes memory.
Think of how amazing your brain will work if you accelerated learning by the use of memory training, brain games, brain food, and brain exercise! No matter how we try to sugarcoat it, our brains will go the way of our bodies and in order to keep them in tip-top shape we will need to tone them. Learning aids in brain development and memory skills can help fight off any decline in memory and encourage new cell growth and synapses.
My name is Ron White, am a two time USA Memory Champion. “Use it or lose it” is not just a quotation. Play challenging mind games with your children or grandchildren (they will be amazed at how good your are at them). Have an animated discussion about politics or religion — which always seem to get people riled up. Listen — Talk — Read — Write — and enjoy life! It’s all a learning experience.
Sources:
Memoryzine.com: No, You’re Not Out Of School Yet! — memoryzine.com
