“I am old, Thus I cannot learn! ” Is the standard go to phrase of the lazy aging adults!, well “The Intern” and Neuroscience findings tell a different tale altogether!
Neurogenesis – The process by which new neurons are generated in our brain!
Synapses – The interconnections between neurons in brain.
The Brain, a complex 3 pound heavy organ, with million billion neural network, demanding 10 times more energy by weight in comparison to other organs, is an expensive organ indeed, but its remarkable feats are truly breath taking just like Ben Whittaker in the movie “The Intern”
Beating the usual Stereotype that Old people can’t learn, Ben Whittaker proves to the contrary, that learning new skills, staying fit and a deep organized sleep cycle can help in the new synapses, the spiny knobs, in the below pic, which shows the increased neural activity after learning process.
A healthy neural activity, is associated with cheerful attitude, reducing anxiety, depression and radiates coolness and calmness just like Ben Whittaker, who puts his mind and charm to anything life throws at him with a smile!.
An excerpt from the article Think You’re Too Old to Learn New Tricks? on Scientific American
“The take-home message: not only can older adults learn multiple new skills at the same time in the right environment and with the right beliefs, but doing so may improve their cognitive functioning considerably.
The intervention brought older adults out of their comfort zones, and made them feel fearless about new challenges. At the start of the intervention, many older adults thought they could barely walk a mental mile, but they completed a triathlon.”
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/think-youre-too-old-to-learn-new-tricks/
New neurons for life? Old people can still make fresh brain cells, study finds that even people long past middle age can make fresh brain cells, and that past studies that failed to spot these newcomers may have used flawed methods.
Which brings us to the question!
What stimulates Neurogenesis and new Synapses?
- Learning new skills
- Healthy Diet
- Adequate sleep
- Running / Working out
- Sex ( Well as long as it doesn’t interrupt with the Adequate sleep 😉 )
And thats my take on “The Intern” from the (my limited) Neuroscience perspective. The way brain functions and organizes the information and retrieves from the complicated million billion network never failed to fascinate and amaze me!.
Will see you on another post with another interesting movie seen on a different light! Until then Adios Amigos!
P.S : Credits:
“Learning How to Learn” – an amazing course on Coursera
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/think-youre-too-old-to-learn-new-tricks/
And the amazing video on Neurogenesis by Sandrine Thuret, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_tjKYvEziI&t=375s