[BENNETT]: Lifelong learning is a really critical part of increasing your brain health throughout your life and delaying the risk of any age-related disease, especially dementia, because what you're doing is enhancing your brain.

[GENOVA]: We're all worried about our brain health, our memory and focus, losing our sharpness and dealing with "brain fog," and we want to know the best way to reduce our risk of Alzheimer's disease.

[MOSCONI]: It's really important to stimulate the brain and support brain health because if you don't do those things, then you risk weakening your brain.

You risk losing some of its sharpness and capabilities.

[SMITH]: If you're worried about keeping that brain sharp and healthy, then find something you love to do that includes learning and using your mind actively.

[GENOVA]: Luckily, there's good news!

Scientific research has shown that engaging in lifelong learning can have a significant positive impact on your brain!

[TANZI]: You learn new things, you make new synapses, you strengthen the ones you already have.

But it's all about learning new things.

[CAMACHO]: The thing that I'm going to learn with my grandson is chess.

I've always avoided chess, but now I'm going to learn it.

[GENOVA]: Put the science of lifelong learning to work in your life and build a plan to "Supercharge Your Brain: Maximizing Your Cognitive Abilities Through Learning."

(stirring musical crescendo) [GENOVA]: Hi, I'm Dr. Lisa Genova I'm a neuroscientist and author, and I'm excited to share with you the science behind the power of lifelong learning that can lead to truly empowering benefits for your brain.

And along the way, we'll meet a group of people from all walks of life who show us the kinds of fun, rewarding, and enriching activities that you might consider incorporating into your life.

Understanding the benefits to my brain, I have an ongoing practice of learning new things.

I take dance lessons.

I'm learning Italian.

I take comedy improv classes.

And with every new novel I write, I become a student again, learning about the characters and their worlds.

Building a stronger, healthier brain through learning is often a chance to be curious, play, and make new friendships, and so it can actually be a lot of fun.

Our guides on this fascinating adventure are some of the nation's top neuroscientists, psychologists, and brain experts.

[BENNETT]: Lifelong learning is the ability to and interest in continuing to learn new things throughout your life.

[WU]: A lot of times we think, "Oh, learning is for infants and children, we don't need to learn as adults"-- especially older adults.

But "lifelong learning" is a phrase that we use to help capture how much learning is important for older adulthood.

[MOSCONI]: Learning is to your brain what exercise is to your muscles.

And I think that's the cleanest definition of learning that I've ever heard from a neurological perspective.

[TANZI]: So, the way we learn is that we experience something new, and then this starts to modify these trillions of connections between hundreds of billions of nerve cells in the brain.

And you actually get a rerouting.

So, picture these little nerve cells sending out these tendrils called axons, and they find other nerve cells and connect, and they start to fire.

And you have trillions of this firing going on in this amazing network of the brain that's defining who you are, based on your experiences.

New experiences renew the neural network that is your brain.

That's why it's so important to learn new things.

[GENOVA]: So, what exactly does the term "brain health" mean?

And why is it so critically important?

[BENNETT]: You can think of brain health the same way that you think about physical health.

So, ultimately, what you're trying to do is keep your brain as young-like, as youth-like, as possible.

We don't want to have our muscles deteriorate as we age, we also don't want our brains to deteriorate as we age.

And so brain health is about keeping your neurons as healthy and young-like as possible.

[MOSCONI]: I like to say to our patients to think of their brains more like their best friend.

Because when people say health is wealth, then brain health is the ultimate treasure.

[GENOVA]: Imagine your brain as a city inside your head with a vast transportation system, and the nerve cells, or neurons, are all the different roads and highways that deliver signals or messages throughout your brain, and to every part of your body.

These messages allow you to do everything, from thinking and feeling, to breathing, talking, eating, and walking.

So, what happens when we learn something new?

You go from not knowing something, to knowing something.

This means your brain has built new neural connections, new roads.

When you learn something new, you are literally building a bigger brain, something neuroscientists call a "cognitive reserve."

Cognitive reserve is important because it can serve as your brain's backup connections, roadways it can use if other highways become blocked or damaged.

If you have a lot of cognitive reserve, your brain will be more agile and able to find alternate routes of communication around any problems or roadblocks.

The more you practice and the better you know something, the stronger those new neural connections become.

[MOSCONI]: The principle is that your neurons need to wire together.

They need to become connected.

Why?

Because when two neurons get connected, the information is actually consolidated, which means that you remember it.

So, the next time you find yourself in the same situations, the neurons will just fire much faster.

It's literally wired into your neurons connecting with each other.

[GENOVA]: So, if learning creates new connections and circuitry in our brains, what happens if we stop learning new things?

Well, it's kind of a "use it or lose it" situation.

Neural roads not traveled regularly become weak and can even degrade entirely over time.

This is one of the ways we can forget what we've learned or experienced.

Our human brains only remember what is meaningful, emotional, surprising, new, and what we practice.

Our brains don't remember what is routine and predictable.

If we stop learning, if our days are an endless repeat of same old, same old, we will drastically reduce what we will remember.

Just in the last decade, our understanding of how the brain works has changed dramatically.

We now know that the brain can become so much stronger, healthier, and more resilient-- at any age-- if we give it the kinds of input and experiences it needs to support this.

[BENNETT]: We used to think that as we got older, we would lose the specialized cells in our brains called neurons.

We would lose memories, we would lose our ability to learn new things, and we now know that that's just not the case.

It's actually possible for you to not just keep your neurons as we get older, but in fact to have them grow and to support learning of all kinds of new information throughout your lifespan.

[GENOVA]: So, what can you do to help your brain keep its vitality?

[WU]: The key to boosting brain function in older adulthood is to learn new challenging skills, and m- as many new, challenging skills, at the same time, as you can.

By doing so, you then might create new neural pathways, which means you have different parts of your brain talking to different parts of your brain that never were talking to each other before because of the new experiences that you're seeing now or hearing now.

[GENOVA]: I want to introduce you now to someone who's taking all of this exciting knowledge and putting it into action.

Meet 76-year-old Larry Jenkins.

[JENKINS]: For most of my career, I was in corporate law.

It was very challenging.

I retired three years ago, just prior to the start of the pandemic.

(playing piano) [JENKINS]: I've always been interested in music.

You know, and I grew up in a great household of music, and when I retired I was looking for something more creative to do with myself and I thought the piano was a good fit, particularly jazz piano, since I've been a jazz fan all of my life, and I thought it'd be a great time to uh, to spend some time learning how to play, uh, jazz piano.

And I decided to finally do something about it.

[GENOVA]: So, a few months ago, Larry signed up for weekly piano lessons at a local music school.

[TEACHER]: Try playing the major seventh first and then flatting the seventh.

(playing piano) [TEACHER]: So, you see the relationship, right, so, so, so, so there's the maj- so now you're going to smooth it out.

[JENKINS]: Not only are you reading, it's hand and eye coordination, and it's, it's trying to figure out where your fingers go, and where they're supposed to be, and when they're supposed to be there.

I try to spend at least an hour a day practicing.

It j- kind of adds to what I call kind of the excitement of being a part of family.

Music is just another avenue for all of us to kind of connect and to enjoy one another.

I think it's important to keep your brain active, quite frankly, especially when you're used to working every single day of your life.

And I've been enjoying it.

(jazzy piano riff) [GENOVA]: Larry may have just started his musical journey, but his brain is already building and strengthening so many new neural roads.

He's activating and making connections in the parts of his brain that involve the movement and touch in his fingers, reading the musical notes, focus, and joy, to name a few.

[TANZI]: So, if you're learning how to play piano for the first time, even if you're older, you're now looking at the keys.

You're looking at the sheet music.

Now you have to somehow correlate that with your fingers.

And now you have to listen to what you're playing.

So you have auditory, you have, you have vision, you have touch.

This integration of multiple senses when you're learning something new brings in more parts of the brain.

And the important thing about the brain is how much connectivity you have between different brain regions.

This is what keeps the brain healthy.

[GENOVA]: It's actually really easy to get started on a learning adventure.

Start small.

Pick one new skill or subject to learn and don't worry about being perfect or getting "good grades."

This is for you and meant to be fun!

And when it's fun you'll keep doing it.

So, what are some examples of lifelong learning skills for optimal brain health?

Maybe you want to learn a new language.

The benefits for your brain are wide and deep, because it's integrating a lot of different skills.

[MOSCONI]: You need to learn to decode a new language.

There has to be pattern recognition.

You need to start with individual, simple words before you're able to put them together into a complex sentence.

So your knowledge base is expanding.

Your vocabulary is expanding.

Your cognitive strategies are expanding, too.

[GENOVA]: You could also learn to play a musical instrument.

You could take up painting or sculpture, gardening, or cooking.

And adding some physical activity to what you're learning is an added bonus because we know that exercise is also really beneficial for brain health.

[BENNETT]: Not everyone wants to go out for a run, and really that's not at this, the level that most of us are starting at with our physical activity.

So doing chair exercises, or tai chi or yoga or any activity that gets your heart pumping, that's the best thing that you can do to improve blood flow not just throughout your body, but also to your brain.

And so that's one of the main ways in which we deliver oxygen and nutrients to our brain.

And so any kind of physical activity is really important for us to continue to do.

[GENOVA]: Whatever skill or activity you choose to learn, remember that it shouldn't be something you've done before.

[WU]: Ideally, the activity should be completely brand new to you.

Think about how... when a baby or a child is learning something brand new.

That's the, the challenge, the experience that you kind of want to give yourself.

[GENOVA]: Now, learning one new thing is just fabulous.

But if you're up for it, it's even better if you learn more than one new skill, because you're engaging even more and using different parts of your brain.

This is called the layering effect.

[TANZI]: It's multimodal learning and different parts of the brain are involved.

And when different parts of the brain are forced to connect with each other, this is the healthiest the brain can be.

[GENOVA]: The layering effect can also have an impact when you dive deeper and wider into a single skill.

[MOSCONI]: So, for example, when we recommend to pick up a new language, let's say Italian, right?

It's wonderful that you start learning Italian, but why don't we make it a more immersive experience?

Maybe you also want to experiment in Italian cuisine.

Maybe you want to learn to make pizza from scratch, or perhaps you want to learn about Italian culture, and get history books about Italy or maybe listen to Italian music, or perhaps plan a trip to Italy.

The point is that the more immersive your experience is, the more stimulated your brain will be as a result.

[GENOVA]: Let's now meet someone who is learning more than one new skill.

You'll see how layering is not only doable, but also deeply satisfying.

Sheelandra Kulkarni is 76 and until he retired a few years ago, he enjoyed a successful career as a mechanical engineer.

[KULKARNI]: (speaking Spanish) Fui Alaska el mes pasado, con mi amigo Niconara y su familia.

[GENOVA]: Sheelandra is a veritable whirlwind, engaged almost every day at his local senior center in mastering new skills that build his cognitive reserve.

[KULKARNI]: I got interested in Spanish four, five years ago.

My wife was, uh, very ill and most of our help was Spanish-speaking and so, in order to get communication easier, I decided to learn Spanish.

[GENOVA]: The senior center initially didn't offer Spanish classes, so Sheelandra helped organize one.

For the last few years, this weekly gathering has been packed.

[WOMAN]: [speaking Spanish] Y se dos vie- viejas... [MAN]: Viajes... [WOMAN]: Viajes... [KULKARNI]: I know that learning new language is a challenge.

It just takes effort and consistency, and also a lot of practice.

It keeps your focus, brain sharp.

[GENOVA]: But learning Spanish is just the beginning.

Being physically active is also a fundamental part of Sheelandra's daily routine.

[KULKARNI]: I have some activity planned for every day.

Uh, one of the most important one is, uh, exercise.

So, I do yoga.

[YOGA TEACHER]: Be sure you feel the string on the top of your head, right?

You have that position.

[KULKARNI]: I've tried line dancing.

There is a gym that I do bicycle.

I do chair Zumba.

(music playing and class clapping) [CLASS]: Woo!

Woo!

[KULKARNI]: Woo!

Wow!

[KULKARNI]: Without exercise, I think I cannot really sustain my lifestyle.

Uh, it really gives me lot of energy.

It also, perhaps more importantly, is... it brings me close to people at the center who are now my friends.

I love learning new skills.

We were joking around one day in our senior center and they asked you, "What do you think is your mental age?"

Or you know, "How old do you think you are from your mind?"

And I, I still, my...

I am like 25-year-old.

[GENOVA]: Doesn't Sheelandra sound great?

Imagine feeling 25 again!

Try taking that first step.

Maybe there's something you've always wanted to do, like playing bridge, trying standup comedy, or even playing guitar in a band.

Once you know what you want to learn, find a class or lesson, perhaps at your local community center, arts center, gym or online.

And go for it!

Do it for your brain and your overall well-being.

When we come back, I'll share more specific ways to make your brain stronger and what to do to protect yourself from cognitive decline.

Please stay with us.

[GENOVA]: Welcome back to "Supercharge Your Brain: Maximizing Your Cognitive Abilities Through Learning."

Hi, I'm Dr. Lisa Genova.

In the first part of our program, we explored the empowering benefits of lifelong learning on your brain and your overall well-being and health.

Learning new skills at any age can be life changing.

It can make your brain stronger and more resilient and can help reduce your risk of cognitive decline and diseases like Alzheimer's, and other forms of dementia.

As you're seeing, there are so many things to choose from at any age, and it really is fun!

Pick something you've always wanted to learn.

Maybe it's piano or guitar.

Or learning French or Italian or Spanish.

Take a class at your local community center, senior center, or local library, and learn painting or gardening or cooking-- or an activity such as tai chi or yoga.

Whether you're 60 or 70 or 80, or even 90, it's never too late to get started!

[MOSCONI]: It's actual science that you can protect your brain by stimulating it in different ways.

There are some really interesting studies that show if... that if you have a pool of individuals who are cognitively healthy to start with, like hundreds of individuals, age 60 and older, and you follow them over time, those who keep intellectually stimulated have over 50% lower risk of developing dementia later on in life as compared to those who do not keep intellectually stimulated.

I encourage everyone to think of their brains more like a muscle, because there are things that you can do to strengthen your brain and make it more resilient.

[TANZI]: Learning is by association.

So, you're creating new connections and you're strengthening old connections and you're renewing that neural network.

And that's the key w- in life is that you want to keep your brain healthy.

You want to keep mental vitality blooming.

You have to constantly learn new things because the new things renew the neural network at every moment of your life that you encounter something new.

[GENOVA]: Building new neural networks is critical to brain health.

But let's chat for a moment about that "use it or lose it" idea again.

If you don't learn new things, if your days are an endless sea of routine, predictable, inconsequential, same old, same old... Well, I'm not here to scare you, but the research is crystal clear.

[BENNETT]: The decision to not engage in lifelong learning is going to come with some consequences.

So, for example, you are going to have reduced cognitive functioning.

The less engaged your brain is, the less active your brain is, the more things are going to decline, the greater risk you are of things declining.

[GENOVA]: If you're not regularly engaged in new experiences and learning new things, then your brain is less active and it will be at a greater risk for cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia.

[BENNETT]: There's a number of changes that happen in our brain as we get older.

If I were to slice your brain in half and peer inside, I would notice that some of the fluid-filled spaces, those get bigger, and that's because we're losing tissue in our brain, the gray and white matter.

In addition to these changes at what we call a gross anatomical level, there's changes that are happening at the cellular level.

So, neurons themselves can be shrinking or atrophying.

When we have extreme age-related diseases, you can actually lose your neurons.

[GENOVA]: But here's the really good news-- you can still make new neural connections, build more roads, and strengthen neural networks at any age.

Throughout life, you can still learn a new sport, act in a play, or memorize all the words to the latest Taylor Swift song.

It's never too late.

Here's another way to look at it-- you are in the driver's seat and your hands are on the steering wheel.

It's your choice.

Now let's meet a woman who's steering her brain in the best possible way: learning new skills and having a ball.

(soft music) Genie Camacho is 80 years old.

She was an Air Force flight nurse for three decades and then a psychiatric nurse at a hospital.

Genie retired just a few years ago.

She's a widow and now lives with her daughter and grandson who have been an enormous boost to her spirits.

(playing piano) [GENOVA]: But what really turned Genie's life around is what she did next.

She started learning new skills.

[CAMACHO]: I decided I needed to do something else.

My friends told me, "Genie, you gotta do stuff," so...

I went to the senior center, and I made a lot of friends.

I really like the activities.

I really enjoy it.

I have something to do every day.

[GENOVA]: What's been so transforming are all the activities she's mastering at her local senior center.

[CAMACHO]: I like to go to Zumba.

There's chair Zumba, there's Zumba, there's aerobics, there's calisthenics.

My energy is really improved.

With other people your own age, you don't have to be embarrassed because nobody is perfect at it.

You know, we all do it at our own speed and everyone tries to help everyone else.

So it's like a sense of community and we all laugh, "Oh, you didn't put your leg up right!

Do it again."

When I first started taking classes I was a little embarrassed, but I said, "Well, so what?

I'm going to do it anyway."

[GENOVA]: There's no way to slow down Genie Camacho.

She even has her next skill all lined up.

[CAMACHO]: The thing that I'm going to learn with my grandson, is chess.

I've always avoided chess, but now I'm going to learn it.

[GENOVA]: No question about it, Genie will be giving her grandson a run for his money every time they bring out the chessboard.

Let's pause for a moment and look at what's happening here.

Studies show that physical activity, such as what Genie's doing, increases blood flow to the brain.

Your brain is only two percent of your body's mass, but it consumes about 20% of your body's energy.

It gets this energy from glucose and oxygen delivered by your blood flow.

Exercise ensures that our brains get enough blood flow and the energy it needs to function optimally.

Genie doing different activities adds those "layering effect" benefits, building denser and more robust neural pathways, which is good for her brain as well.

Lastly, Genie learning with other people has a real bonus benefit.

Participating in group activities keeps us socially engaged.

Now, social isolation is one of the top psychological stressors we can experience, and it can impair cognition, memory, our mental health, and put us at an increased risk of dementia.

So, learning in a group, being socially engaged, keeps our brains active, promotes a better memory and emotional well-being today, and it reduces our risk of developing Alzheimer's in the future.

Sign me up!

Now, let's meet Arline Gewanter.

Arline is 88 years old and she's cooking with gas!

[GEWANTER]: My life is just the best it could be, and this is the best time of my whole life.

I'm the happiest that I've ever been.

I've always loved learning new things.

[GENOVA]: A few months ago, at the tender age of 88, Arline embarked on a new mission-- to learn the ukulele.

[GEWANTER]: (singing) "You'll never know, dear, how much I love you.

Please don't take my sunshine away."

[GEWANTER]: I took up the ukulele because I just felt that's an instrument that people gather around as a group.

It's fun, and I love music.

It looked relatively simple to play.

It only has four strings, as opposed to a guitar.

When I'm playing, I don't want to stop.

I just want to hear the music.

And even though I'm not a good singer, I love to sing along.

And I like to do something that everybody can enjoy and hopefully everyone will join in.

That's what I'm looking forward to, being able to play for a group that will sing with me.

(singing) "Oh my darling, Clementine!

You are lost and gone forever, dreadful sorry, Clementine."

[GENOVA]: Arline's positive spirit has made learning to play the ukulele a truly joyful experience.

(playing ukulele) [UKULELE TEACHER]: Go to F. Now, you can go down to C. [GEWANTER]: Mmmm.

[UKULELE TEACHER]: Go back to E. [GEWANTER]: I keep telling myself that I'm doing better than expected instead of, "I'm not as good as I'd like to be."

I think it's very stimulating to learn new things and when we stop learning, it could be boring.

My life is never boring.

(singing) "You'll never know, dear, how much I love you.

Please don't take my sunshine away."

(playing ukulele) (kissing) [GENOVA]: Isn't Arline amazing?

I'm so inspired by her passion and determination to learn ukulele.

And you can see how playing is such a pleasure for her.

I love it!

Playing music stimulates many parts of the brain, including those involved with memory, attention, and problem-solving.

Playing music can improve your cognitive abilities, executive function skills, and better overall mental agility.

And I want to add that it's so much fun!

What instrument would YOU like to learn to play?

I took piano lessons for a short time when I was writing a book about a concert pianist, and watching Arline makes me want to play piano again.

Now, let's take a deeper dive into a few of the most significant benefits of lifelong learning to the brain-- how it can improve your memory and increase what's called "cognitive reserve" through neuroplasticity.

What is neuroplasticity?

It's the ability of the brain-- at any age-- to change and rewire itself to adapt to new experiences.

[BENNETT]: So, what neuroplasticity means is that the brain-- the actual structures of your brain are changing so that we can support and enhance neural functioning.

Some of this "structural changes" that I'm referring to are things like, not growing new neurons, but enhancing the neurons that you have.

[GENOVA]: So, when you learn something new, you are creating and strengthening new neural connections.

You are rewiring your brain so that it now houses information it didn't have before.

But the opposite happens if you stop learning.

[BENNETT]: As soon as you start slacking off, things are no longer challenging for you, that... the opposite of neuroplasticity occurs.

So, things revert back to the way that they were, and you no longer have the benefits of learning these new skills and engaging in these new activities that you're doing.

[GENOVA]: So, what's the best thing to do?

Don't slack off.

Keep learning!

When we learn something new, we build new neural connections.

When we practice and learn toward mastery, we are making these connections even stronger, making them long-lasting.

And we're building up our cognitive reserve, the brain's backup, or alternate connections.

There was a landmark study starting in the 1980s that showed how crucial it is to have as much cognitive reserve as possible.

It's called the "Religious Order Study," or the "Nun Study."

Investigators studied more than 600 Catholic sisters, or nuns, ranging in age from 75 to 107.

[MOSCONI]: Many of the nuns donated their brains to science.

So, after the nuns passed on, the scientists were able to really study their brains in great detail.

And what they found was extremely surprising.

They found some of these brains contained a significant amount of "damage," if you will, that is consistent with the definition of Alzheimer's disease.

[GENOVA]: These brains clearly had visible plaques and tangles, the pathological, hallmark signs of Alzheimer's.

But, while these nuns were alive, they experienced no symptoms of cognitive impairment!

[MOSCONI]: It really spearheaded the development of this cognitive reserve hypothesis that states that your brain can really face insults, and aging, and disease, and damage for as long as it's able to switch routes.

[GENOVA]: These nuns were all lifelong learners.

We think that they had an abundance of cognitive reserve, and this gave them additional pathways to use to offset and detour the damage in their brains, and this allowed them to function normally.

YOU can build cognitive reserve, too!

The way to do it is to keep learning new things throughout your life.

(soft piano music) My Nana had Alzheimer's.

I've witnessed the effects of this disease up close.

If you know someone who had or has Alzheimer's, you know the devastation and the heartache that comes with profound memory loss.

Memory is essential to the experience of who we are, where we come from.

It gives us our connection to family and friends and the stories of our life, our very identity and life narrative.

In the US today, one in 10 people aged 65 have Alzheimer's.

At 85, it's one in three.

It can feel as if Alzheimer's is the price we'll all have to pay if we're lucky enough to grow old.

But for most of us, Alzheimer's is not our brain's default destiny.

[MOSCONI]: Just recently we have learned that over 40% of all Alzheimer's cases are potentially preventable by changing our lifestyle and our medical health, which includes intellectual stimulation.

[GENOVA]: I'd like you now to meet a dear friend of mine.

His story is truly inspiring.

This is Jay Smith.

He is 85 years old and spent his working life as an architect.

But shortly before Jay retired in 2004, he began having some difficulty balancing when standing up or walking.

[SMITH]: It was no big deal, and I didn't worry too much about it.

But it was, it was curious to me, an inconvenience.

[GENOVA]: But Jay thought it best to be fully evaluated.

That's when he got the news.

He had early-onset dementia.

For most of us, that would be devastating news.

Not for Jay Smith.

[SMITH]: My approach from the beginning has been to beat this thing, to not let it take me out.

What I could do is have a healthy lifestyle and doing something for the brain directly by intensive music studies, taking up a new instrument, umm, singing a lot.

And that's, that's what I actually did.

[GENOVA]: Jay had begun learning mandolin just before the diagnosis.

He now dove more deeply into mandolin lessons and even participated in multi-day workshops.

[GROUP]: (singing) "...snares, I have already come..." [SMITH]: By 2010, I began attending old-time fiddle circles around the area, which met monthly.

And it really boosted my mandolin ability.

If they're playing a song, or you, a tune that you've never played before, you just listen and began to play the notes and phrases and by the end of the song, you're actually pretty much playing the whole, the whole tune.

As a result of that great discovery that I could play the mandolin, play any tune I'm listening to, I decided to take up the banjo and do the same thing.

[playing banjo] [GENOVA]: In addition to banjo lessons, Jay also organized a folk singing group that has met every Thursday afternoon for the last 15 years.

[GROUP]: (singing) "When the saints go marching in!"

[SMITH]: One more time!

[GROUP]: "Oh, when the saints-- Yeah, the saints!

Go marching in..." [GENOVA]: Jay was eager to find out if his music studies were having any effect on his cognitive abilities.

So, in 2017, 12 years after his initial diagnosis, he underwent another round of tests.

The results were, in a word, astounding.

[SMITH]: When I asked the neuropsychologist, "Am I still in mild cognitive impairment?"

He smiled and he said, "You're not even to mild cognitive impairment yet."

The neuropsych tests showed no cognitive decline in any of the test elements and slight improvement in some.

So that was very surprising to me and, and, and delightful.

It suggested that the Alzheimer's is, is advancing, but it's not getting me.

[GENOVA]: That's because Jay has built up a tremendous amount of cognitive reserve, partly because of the intensive use of his brain in his decades-long career as an architect, but also due to his intensive focus on learning new skills after his Alzheimer's diagnosis.

[SMITH]: That, that made me very happy because it proved that what I was doing was helping me.

I feel good about that.

I, I did that.

(uplifting music) [GENOVA]: Jay, we all feel good about that.

Keep it up, my friend.

What an extraordinary and inspiring story.

And you know what?

Your story can be inspiring, too.

Look for new experiences, discover new interests, become a lifelong learner, and in doing so, build a bigger, stronger, Alzheimer's-resistant brain.

When we come back, we'll look at some simple steps to build and strengthen your cognitive reserve and meet more nice folks on a journey of lifelong learning, and loving every minute of it!

Please stay with us.

[GENOVA]: Welcome back to "Supercharge Your Brain: Maximizing Your Cognitive Abilities Through Learning."

Hi, I'm Dr. Lisa Genova.

We've been exploring exciting new discoveries in neuroscience that reveal how lifelong learning-- learning new skills, such as speaking Spanish or Italian, or taking piano lessons, for example-- has a tremendous impact in preventing cognitive decline and even reducing your risk of an Alzheimer's diagnosis.

Learning is beneficial, no matter how old you are.

How amazing is that?

Let's talk a little bit about stress.

About 79 percent of Americans say they feel stress sometimes or frequently every single day.

And plenty of scientific evidence tells us that relentless, unmanaged stress is toxic for your brain and body.

Well, another major benefit of lifelong learning is that it can help reduce your stress levels.

[MOSCONI]: The more you support your brain, the less stressed you're going to be, and the more, uh, resilient you're going to be against any stressful situation.

Because in the end, we have no control over the vast majority of things that happen to us, but we can actively control the way that we respond to stress.

[WU]: In the short term, you will feel much more stressed and maybe more stupid and more, like... "Why am I doing this to myself?"

But later, you actually will feel happier and more confident.

And then when you're learning more new skills, you will find it a lot easier to learn new skills compared to the first time or second time you're learning something.

[GENOVA]: There's another major benefit in engaging in lifelong learning.

It can connect us to other people.

We're often happiest and feel our best when we're with people we enjoy and care about.

If you're learning new skills, doing so alone is definitely beneficial.

But, learning with others is even better.

[WU]: As you're learning new skills, you're also meeting a lot of new people.

You're sitting next to people that you've never known before, and then you make maybe lifelong friends.

And you'll be connecting with new communities that you maybe never even knew existed before.

[TANZI]: If you're interacting with others, there's plasticity going on, there's new synapses being made.

You're also building up your neural network simply by interacting with others, and telling stories about the day, and getting views on news, and talking about the grandkids.

A form of stimulation and learning for building those cognitive reserves in the brain comes from interaction with others.

[GENOVA]: And that's true for any lifelong learning activity.

If, for example, you're learning a musical instrument, at some point you might form a band and perform at your local community center.

Or play for your family, or with your family, at the next holiday gathering.

If you've started landscape painting in your backyard, maybe join a class and do it in a group setting.

If you've taken up knitting, maybe join a knitting circle.

Remember, it's never too late to start.

[MOSCONI]: It doesn't matter how old you are.

The most important thing is to start, and to keep doing it.

It's important to get started, but also just keep it up.

Consistency is key to brain health.

[GENOVA]: Let's now meet a woman who has never let age stop her.

Velma Heller is 87 and lives by that phrase, "It's never too late to get started."

Velma had an illustrious career in education, in her hometown in Connecticut.

First as a teacher and then, an elementary school principal.

Velma loved working, and when she retired, she wondered what else life held for her.

[HELLER]: It was, uh, really a period of, of adjustment and trying to think, "Who am I now?"

Um, and I, I decided I'm who I always have been.

(laughing) Trying to find things that would engage me, but at the same time, um, things that maybe were a little bit challenging, something a little bit different from what I'd always done.

And so I decided recently that so much of my life has been really involved with words.

And I needed something else.

[GENOVA]: That "something else" was painting.

A few months ago, at her town's senior center, Velma enrolled in a landscape painting class.

[HELLER]: We went to various beaches in town and various interesting spots.

And, uh, so I did a painting in, in each of the spots.

And I've learned some technique from each of them.

It's new territory that I was jumping into.

You're recognizing that there's things you don't know.

I can see that I've learned to do certain things that I didn't know how to do, and it actually doesn't look all that bad.

(laughing) [GENOVA]: For Velma Heller, continuing to learn is her mission and one of her greatest joys.

[HELLER]: Isn't it wonderful?

I think it has to do with resilience.

Once you've been able to make a change, it makes you more capable of making the next change.

I found that exhilarating and it became less scary to face all of the changes in life.

To me, learning is, is what it's all about.

I think it's what keeps you alive.

[GENOVA]: Curiosity and learning are clearly a way of life for Velma Heller.

That brings us to a crucial element of lifelong learning.

For it to be effective, for it to create new neural pathways in your brain, and really supercharge your brain, you can't just learn a little bit and then stop.

That's true for whatever skill you choose.

[WU]: The skills that you want to learn should be constantly challenging.

If you hit... if you find yourself hitting a plateau, if you find yourself feeling like "This is easy, this is--" or getting easy, at least, then you probably want to step it up a notch, or maybe even learn something new.

Just like how we have children going from first grade to second grade to third grade, we're always stepping them up to learn new skills and to continue challenging themselves.

That's what we have to do as adults, as well.

[GENOVA]: Remember, this is for YOU!

There are no grades or report cards.

The rewards are a healthier, more alert and resilient brain, living a more memorable life, and feeling good.

[MOSCONI]: The journey is more important than the destination.

It's something that you really just want to enjoy and do the best that you can, but without the anxiety of having to... perform at top level.

That is not the point.

You do it for yourself.

You don't have to show anything to anyone.

You want to help yourself, you want to take care of your own brain, you do it at your own pace.

What's important is consistency.

You can read five books in a week, and then not touch a book for five months.

Does that help you?

No.

What is really helpful is to do it over time.

[GENOVA]: So, maybe you're thinking, "Ok, I'm ready.

I'm really ready.

I'm convinced that the brain research behind all of this is accurate.

And I've been wanting to learn so many things for so long, but I just kept postponing it.

I can't do it this month.

I've got so much going on, I'll do it after the holidays, or someday...." Or maybe it just felt too indulgent.

"But now I see the brain benefits.

I'm excited and ready.

But how do I start?

And where do I start?"

[NORRIS]: You can find these types of programs at your senior centers.

Most libraries offer some form of lifelong learning education.

You can always contact your local community college or university.

There are plenty of lifelong learning opportunities available for people.

[GENOVA]: Another great way to get into lifelong learning is to look for classes at a local theater, library, creative arts center, or museum.

You could also join a local club.

Maybe it's a book club or photography or a birding club.

Or maybe you can ask a family member to teach you some skills you've always wanted to learn.

If you're interested in mastering some high-tech skills, many towns have established local "maker spaces," usually in a school or library, where you can connect with other like-minded folks to create, explore, and share.

There also might be a lifelong learning institute or university in your area that offers a wide range of continuing education courses.

And if you can't find the right club for you, you can form your own group.

Maybe for learning Japanese, or furniture building or pottery.

Maybe it's something fun and a bit silly-- "Plumbers Who Sing!"

or "Teachers Who Paint!"

The list is limitless!

But wherever and whatever you're learning-- a musical instrument, a new language, standup comedy, painting, or tai chi-- the opportunities for maximizing your cognitive abilities are everywhere.

[MOSCONI]: Even watching PBS is a wonderful, brain-healthy activity, because you can get information.

Anything from science, history, travel, health, music, art.

And that really is crucial for brain health.

[GENOVA]: Dr. Mosconi is right on the money.

PBS tells us that it's the home of lifelong learners!

That's all of you, watching right now!

You can always find something new to watch on PBS.

And you can use those programs as inspiration to dig deeper and learn more about the subjects that interest you.

I'd like to introduce you now to someone whose cognitive reserve must surely be growing by leaps and bounds.

Seth Lefferts is 70 years old.

For most of his career, he was a database designer for the health insurance industry.

Two years ago, he was laid off.

It was time to adjust to what he assumed would be full-time retirement.

So, Seth began looking for activities to keep his mind engaged.

[LEFFERTS]: My wife found this wonderful kinetic sculpture that I saw and said, "I have to build that."

And it's a sculpture of a hummingbird in flight.

So, I bought the plans for it and that's how I got into building sculptures.

[GENOVA]: As a kid, Seth did a few woodworking projects, but they involved crafting something from a kit.

Working from scratch, to build a sculpture of a hummingbird that moves, was something completely different.

[LEFFERTS]: Nothing ever prepared me for this.

I had to do everything myself.

I had to learn how to cut stainless steel tubing and thread it.

I had to learn how to cut very precise blocks of wood so that I could start building this whole thing.

And the sculpture is a set of very large gears that the bird sits on top of.

And then as the gears turn, the bird flaps its wings and dips into a flower, and then comes back out.

[laser cutting through wood] [LEFFERTS]: Success!

Okay, we got another project going.

(laughing) [GENOVA]: Seth realized early on that he needed a support group that could help him, and encourage him in his efforts.

He found just what he needed at a local maker space.

[LEFFERTS]: I took on this project knowing that it was going to stimulate my brain.

It was going to keep me focused.

And it was the funnest thing I think I've done in my life-- in many, many years-- because it challenged my brain so much.

And it still is.

My advice to anyone who's thinking about taking on something brand new, and intricate, and challenging-- is to just do it.

Give it a try.

Find people who can help you get over any hurdles you might have, but just do it.

I have always had a belief in my life that if you just say yes, things happen that you can never predict, and you find out that you have those capabilities inside of you.

(uplifting music) [GENOVA]: Seth found something that was both challenging to him-- and super fun!

That's the key to a successful learning adventure that can really benefit your brain.

When you're passionate about the subject or activity, you're much more likely to continue pursuing it.

As I've mentioned, a slow and steady approach wins the brain race.

And remember that you can add more things to learn along the way.

I'm never going to be a professional backup dancer for J.Lo, but I love to learn new choreography and dance with the other women in my class.

And my brain loves the workout.

Don't worry about being perfect or a professional, just pick something new to learn, and jump in!

As we approach the end of our program, let's just review once more the groundbreaking new research, establishing how lifelong learning and optimal brain health are inextricably linked.

[WU]: We used to think that older adults could maybe handle, um, learning something once a week, or maybe something for a couple of hours a week, and maybe one thing at a time-- very, kind of, low level.

Now, research is showing that the capacity for lifelong learning is much bigger than we used to think.

[MOSCONI]: But most importantly, lifelong learning and continual intellectual stimulation is a preventative against age-related disorders like Alzheimer's disease.

The benefits really are for life and I think that anything that can potentially reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease later on in life is very much worth pursuing.

Especially if it's fun.

[HELLER]: When you're out there learning something new, you're just kind of stoking the flame to keep things going so that there, there's warmth and there's light.

So, I kind of feel that there, there's this kind of spiritual quality to the whole thing, about learning.

I think, um, I think, I think it feeds you.

[TANZI]: Think like a kid.

Look at your grandkids, young children.

The reason why they learn so fast is because every moment is a "Wow!"

moment.

Everything's amazing.

They want to just take in that world as fast as they can.

Their brain is open like an umbrella.

It's not closed.

And it's taking in new information all the time.

As we get older, we go from "Wow!"

moments, to "So what?"

moments.

You have to change from "So what?"

to "Wow!"

When it's new to you, you want to keep learning something new.

And when you learn something new, you renew the brain.

[GENOVA]: Let's remember what an exciting and fulfilling adventure lifelong learning can be.

We have this wonderful opportunity to take the insights gained from these extraordinary new discoveries in brain science and apply them to our own lives.

At any age, we're capable of learning new things.

And in doing so, we are supporting the health and longevity of our brains.

So, as Dr. Tanzi suggests, let's approach life as we did when we were kids, with curiosity and wonder.

Let's go out there and turn your moments today into "Wow!"

moments.

I'm Lisa Genova.

Thanks for joining us for "Supercharge Your Brain."

(fading music) [upbeat music]