The Cognitive Benefits of Adult Learning: A Personal Journey
A personal essay explores the cognitive and emotional benefits of learning new skills in adulthood, framed through the author's experience of learning to drive at age 34. The narrative cites research from Neurology and Trinity College Dublin showing that intellectual enrichment can slow cognitive decline and reduce dementia risk. Psychologist Rachel Wu of UC Riverside argues that learning is essential for adaptation and independence. Neuroscientists Martin Wiener and Marc Wittmann explain how novel experiences enhance memory encoding and time perception. The author describes lessons with Vince of VMARE Driving School in Manhattan, culminating in a road test. The piece references Tom Vanderbilt's book 'Beginners' on lifelong learning and includes studies on London taxi drivers' hippocampal growth and juggling's effect on gray matter.
Key facts
- Author learned to drive at age 34 after years of avoiding it.
- Neurology journal published data linking intellectual enrichment to slower cognitive decline.
- Trinity College Dublin research shows stimulating activities in midlife reduce dementia risk.
- Rachel Wu's studies indicate learning new skills boosts brain function and cognition.
- London taxi drivers show enlarged hippocampi from memorizing city maps.
- Juggling practice increases gray matter in occipitotemporal cortex.
- Martin Wiener explains that dense information makes experiences seem longer.
- Marc Wittmann notes attentiveness enhances perceived nourishment of events.
Entities
Artists
- Rainer Maria Rilke
Institutions
- VMARE Driving School
- University of California, Riverside
- George Mason University
- Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health
- Neurology
- Trinity College Dublin
Locations
- Manhattan
- New York City
- United States
- Montreal
- Canada
- London
- United Kingdom
- Germany