Education for Seniors

As our bodies are growing and maturing from birth to maturity, they are getting better and stronger. After our bodies reach maturity, they begin to decline. That's just the law of nature. But the mind is different. The mind also matures beginning at birth, but there is no point at which it reaches maturity and begins to decline, unless we allow that to happen or some awful disease sneaks up on us. As a matter of fact, there is absolutely no physical reason why we can't get continue to learn new things all of our lives.

There was a time, not so very long ago, when the scientific community believed that the brain, like the rest of the human body, declined with age. The brain, so the thinking went, was "hardwired" in youth and then began losing neurons without replacing them. Recent studies, however, contradict this conclusion. The brain, it seems, is a much more dynamic organ than was once believed.

In other words, when it comes to the human brain, you really CAN teach an old dog new tricks. It seems that the educational community has been listening, too. Schools and colleges everywhere now have what they call "continuing education" programs that are really aimed at seniors. And the Internet simply abounds with all kinds of educational programs that seniors can participate in from the comfort of their own homes.

The fact is that by learning new things, we can help our brains to continue to grow and gain functionality rather than decline and lose functionality. Exercise helps the body and exercise also helps the brain. Sign up for a continuing education class at your local college, or sign up for an online course about anything that you might be interested in. Get those brain cells out and give them some exercise!