Can You Train Your Brain Like You Train Your Body?
Can You Train Your Brain Like You Train Your Body?
We accept that our bodies need exercise. Why do we sometimes assume our brains don't?
Most of us understand the basic argument for physical exercise.
If we want to remain mobile, we need to move. If we want to maintain strength, we need to use our muscles. If we want to improve at swimming, cycling, sailing or running, we practise.
We don't expect to become physically fitter by sitting in a chair thinking about exercise.
But when it comes to our brains, we sometimes behave rather differently.
We leave school or university, establish ourselves in a career, become comfortable with the things we already know — and gradually stop deliberately learning new things.
That seems a shame.
I don't think "training your brain" needs to mean buying an expensive brain-training programme or spending hours completing specially designed puzzles.
It can mean something much simpler:
Keep giving yourself things to learn.
Read something difficult. Learn an instrument. Take photographs properly rather than simply pointing a phone. Identify the birds in your garden. Learn another language. Build something. Repair something. Learn to sail. Try some new software.
The important thing is that occasionally you should have to say:
"I don't know how to do this yet."
That final word — yet — may be the important one.
Your Brain Isn't Exactly Like a Muscle
The phrase "exercise your brain" is useful, but we shouldn't take the comparison too literally.
The brain isn't a muscle.
Nor should we make exaggerated claims that doing crosswords, playing an instrument or learning Spanish will guarantee protection against a particular disease.
Healthy ageing is much more complicated than that.
There are many factors that affect our health, and nobody should be promised that completing a Sudoku every morning is some kind of medical insurance policy.
But there is a much more modest and sensible argument.
An active life can include an active mind.
Learning, thinking, remembering, communicating, creating and solving problems can be enjoyable parts of everyday life throughout our lives.
And unlike many things associated with healthy living, mental activity doesn't necessarily require a gym membership, expensive equipment or a special programme.
It requires curiosity.
1. Read Something That Makes You Think
Reading is one of the easiest places to start.
But there is an important distinction between reading something because it is easy and familiar and reading something that makes you stop and think.
Try alternating between comfortable reading and something that stretches you.
That might be:
a novel from a different period;
popular science;
history;
biography;
astronomy;
economics;
engineering;
natural history;
philosophy;
photography;
a subject you previously knew almost nothing about.
You don't have to remember every fact.
The process of encountering unfamiliar ideas is itself valuable.
One of the great advantages we have today is access to information that would once have required an enormous personal library.
The danger is that we use this remarkable technology simply to consume increasingly short pieces of information.
There is still something to be said for sitting down with a substantial article or book and following an argument for 20, 30 or 60 minutes.
2. Learn to Play a Musical Instrument
Music is a wonderful example because so many things happen at once.
Suppose you decide to learn the piano or organ.
You may have to:
read musical notation;
recognise rhythm;
coordinate two hands;
perhaps coordinate your feet as well;
listen critically;
remember patterns;
anticipate what comes next;
control timing;
interpret the music.
At first, something ridiculously simple can feel almost impossible.
The left hand does what it should.
The right hand does what it should.
Then you try putting them together and everything collapses.
But gradually the impossible becomes possible.
That is one of the pleasures of learning.
You can actually experience yourself getting better.
And you certainly don't have to become a concert pianist.
Learning eight bars of music that you couldn't play last week is already an achievement.
3. Don't Just Do Puzzles You Are Already Good At
Crosswords, Sudoku, chess and other puzzles can all be enjoyable.
But there is an interesting question:
Are you challenging yourself, or simply repeatedly demonstrating something you already know how to do?
If you have completed a particular type of crossword every morning for 30 years, you may have become exceptionally good at that particular activity.
There is nothing wrong with that.
But perhaps occasionally try something unfamiliar.
If you normally do crosswords, try a logic puzzle.
If you enjoy Sudoku, learn chess.
If you play chess, try programming.
If you enjoy numbers, try something artistic.
Challenge often comes from unfamiliarity.
4. Learn Another Language
You don't necessarily need the ambition of becoming fluent.
Imagine deciding simply to learn enough Italian to order food, ask directions and hold a basic conversation on holiday.
Suddenly you are dealing with:
new vocabulary;
unfamiliar sounds;
grammar;
memory;
listening;
pronunciation;
rapid recall.
There is another advantage.
Languages force us to accept mistakes.
You will say things incorrectly.
You will forget words.
You may misunderstand somebody.
Then you try again.
That willingness to be temporarily incompetent at something is an important part of lifelong learning.
Adults sometimes dislike being beginners because we have spent decades becoming competent.
Being a beginner again can be refreshing.
5. Start a Practical Project
Mental activity doesn't have to mean sitting at a desk.
Some of the best challenges involve your hands as well as your brain.
Build a bird box.
Repair a bicycle.
Make a piece of furniture.
Set up a Raspberry Pi.
Grow vegetables.
Restore something old.
Learn electronics.
Make something with a 3D printer.
Sew something.
Build a model.
The important part isn't necessarily the finished object.
It is everything that happens on the way.
You measure something incorrectly.
A component doesn't fit.
The software doesn't work.
The instructions don't make sense.
Your first attempt fails.
Now you have a problem to solve.
Practical projects create genuine problems rather than artificial exercises.
And genuine problems can be wonderfully absorbing.
6. Learn Photography Rather Than Simply Taking Photographs
Modern cameras and phones make photography extraordinarily easy.
Point.
Press.
Finished.
But photography becomes much more interesting when you start asking questions.
Why is the background blurred?
Why did that photograph contain movement blur?
Why is the sky overexposed?
What happens if I change the shutter speed?
What does aperture actually do?
Why does changing focal length alter the appearance of the image?
Suddenly an everyday activity becomes a mixture of art, physics, technology and observation.
Then give yourself a project.
Photograph every species of bird visiting your garden.
Photograph the Moon throughout a month.
Record seasonal changes in the same tree.
Learn macro photography.
Photograph insects.
Create a photographic record of your local area.
Now you aren't simply pressing a button.
You are looking.
And learning to look carefully is itself a valuable skill.
7. Learn to Identify the Wildlife Around You
This may be one of the cheapest learning projects available.
Walk into your garden or local park.
How many trees can you identify?
How many birds?
Butterflies?
Wildflowers?
Mushrooms?
Insects?
Most of us live surrounded by organisms we cannot name.
Start with one.
Perhaps you recognise a robin.
Then learn a blackbird.
Then a blue tit.
Then a great tit.
Then a chaffinch.
Before long, what previously looked like "some birds" becomes a collection of different species, behaviours and sounds.
The environment hasn't changed.
Your ability to notice it has.
That is one of the wonderful consequences of learning.
Knowledge makes the world more detailed.
8. Learn New Technology Instead of Automatically Rejecting It
Technology can be frustrating.
A new phone changes something that worked perfectly well before.
A computer updates its software.
Artificial intelligence appears.
Someone starts talking about cloud computing.
It is tempting to say:
"I'm too old for all this."
But perhaps turn that sentence around.
Try:
"I don't understand it yet. Let's see what it does."
You don't need to become a programmer.
Learn one useful feature.
Try speech recognition.
Learn how to organise photographs.
Edit a short video.
Try an AI system.
Learn how a home network works.
Set up a Raspberry Pi.
Try a different operating system.
Every generation encounters technologies that initially appear unnecessary, complicated or strange.
The challenge is not to adopt everything uncritically.
It is to remain willing to learn.
9. Social Activity Can Be Mentally Demanding Too
Keeping mentally active doesn't have to be solitary.
Join a club.
Play cards.
Sail.
Sing in a choir.
Join an amateur dramatic group.
Volunteer.
Attend lectures.
Join a photography group.
Teach somebody something.
Discuss books.
Help organise an event.
Social activities require us to listen, respond, remember, negotiate and communicate.
And teaching is particularly interesting.
One of the quickest ways to discover whether you really understand something is to try explaining it to somebody else.
You suddenly discover the gaps in your own understanding.
10. Choose Activities With Increasing Difficulty
Imagine someone learning photography.
Week 1: Learn aperture.
Week 2: Experiment with shutter speed.
Week 3: Explore ISO.
Week 4: Photograph moving objects.
Week 5: Try macro photography.
Week 6: Edit RAW files.
Week 7: Produce a small portfolio.
The challenge grows.
The same principle works almost everywhere.
Don't simply repeat Level 1 forever.
When something becomes easy, introduce a new challenge.
The Powerful Word Is "New"
There is a common thread running through all these activities.
Reading.
Music.
Languages.
Photography.
Sailing.
Computing.
Wildlife identification.
Practical projects.
Puzzles.
Social activities.
They all offer opportunities to encounter something unfamiliar.
And unfamiliarity is important because it requires attention.
You cannot operate entirely on autopilot.
You have to think.
You Don't Need to Be Good at It
This may be the biggest obstacle for adults.
Children are expected to be beginners.
Adults often aren't.
We become accustomed to being competent.
Then someone hands us a musical instrument, a sailing boat, a programming language or an unfamiliar piece of technology and suddenly we don't know what we're doing.
That can feel uncomfortable.
But perhaps we should deliberately put ourselves into that position occasionally.
Being bad at something new isn't failure.
It is what learning looks like at the beginning.
A Simple Seven-Day Mental Activity Challenge
You could try this without buying anything.
Monday: Read about something you know almost nothing about.
Tuesday: Learn five words in another language.
Wednesday: Identify one bird, tree or plant you normally walk past.
Thursday: Solve a type of puzzle you don't normally attempt.
Friday: Learn one new feature on your phone or computer.
Saturday: Make, repair, photograph or investigate something.
Sunday: Explain one thing you learned during the week to somebody else.
None of those activities is revolutionary.
That is precisely the point.
Keeping mentally active doesn't have to become another complicated lifestyle programme.
It can simply become part of life.
Curiosity Doesn't Have a Retirement Age
Perhaps this is the most important point.
Education shouldn't finish when formal education finishes.
There is no reason why somebody in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s or beyond cannot encounter a completely new subject.
You might learn astronomy at 65.
Photography at 70.
A language at 75.
Digital music at 80.
The objective doesn't have to be an examination, qualification or career.
You can learn something simply because it is interesting.
I have always found that one of the pleasures of science, technology, photography, music and practical projects is that there is always another question waiting.
The more you learn, the more you discover how much you don't know.
That isn't discouraging.
It is exciting.
Conclusion: Give Your Brain Something New to Do
We readily accept that sitting still all day isn't an ideal way to keep our bodies active.
Perhaps we should apply a similar principle to our minds.
Not because completing a crossword or learning the piano provides some magical guarantee about our future health.
It doesn't.
But because an active, curious life can be richer, more interesting and more connected.
Read.
Build.
Photograph.
Listen.
Play.
Explore.
Talk.
Experiment.
Learn.
And occasionally choose something that seems slightly too difficult.
You don't have to master it.
You simply have to begin.
Your next mental workout might not look like exercise at all.
It might be a camera, a musical instrument, a Raspberry Pi, a pair of binoculars, a book — or simply a question you don't yet know the answer to.
The important thing is to remain curious.
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