Lifelong Learning: Times Ideas and Resources for Keeping Your Brain Sharp

The New York Times:

A much-e-mailed article in the most recent issue of Education Life looks at research on why and how challenging the brain — whether via reading, getting a college degree, attending lectures, writing or doing puzzles — can keep one’s mind sharp for a lifetime:

…one essential element of mental fitness has already been identified. “Education seems to be an elixir that can bring us a healthy body and mind throughout adulthood and even a longer life,” says Margie E. Lachman, a psychologist at Brandeis University who specializes in aging. For those in midlife and beyond, a college degree appears to slow the brain’s aging process by up to a decade, adding a new twist to the cost-benefit analysis of higher education — for young students as well as those thinking about returning to school.

The article’s findings inspired us to list ideas that round up a range of Times resources from recent years on keeping the brain in shape at any age — and gave us an excuse to highlight interesting Times multimedia that can help, from online tests of focus and memory to interactive Rock-Paper-Scissors and trivia games.

Read the whole story: The New York Times