Did you know that continuous learning throughout one’s lifetime is the biggest lifestyle risk factor for developing dementia? The less we engage in learning, the higher our risk becomes. While it’s often quantified in terms of formal school years, what truly matters is the quantity and quality of time spent challenging our brains over the course of our lives.
Impact on Health and Longevity
A fundamental principle for brain health and cognitive ability is “use it or lose it”. By actively using and challenging our brains, we stimulate growth and development. Conversely, if we neglect our mental faculties, our neural networks will diminish, and our cognitive functions will decline. Lifelong mental engagement fosters a strong, adaptable, and healthy brain, building what is known as cognitive capacity or reserve – a significant determinant of life quality, brain health, and longevity.
Our past learning experiences shape our beliefs and mindset toward future learning, profoundly influencing how we perceive and tackle new challenges. We talk about people developing either a fixed or a growth mindset. In practice, this concept exists along a continuum and varies depending on the context and the specific challenges we encounter. However, these mindsets have turned out to play a crucial role in determining whether we develop and maintain robust cognitive capacity, or not.
People who have developed a relatively fixed mindset tend to perceive talent, traits, intelligence, and abilities as innate and unchangeable, discouraging efforts to learn something new. So why bother trying? In contrast, individuals who have developed a growth mindset perceive talent, traits, intelligence, and abilities as susceptible to growth. They can be changed and developed through dedicated effort and hard work.
People with a growth mindset thrive on new challenges. They don’t see failures as something that define them, but rather as a opportunities for growing and developing their abilities. Consequently, they typically challenge their brain and learn far more throughout life than people with fixed mindsets. And they demonstrate greater adaptability, both in terms of their brain’s neural wiring and their behaviors, when confronted with life’s changes, be they subtle or monumental. This adaptability enhances their survival capabilities. While everyone has their limitations and preferences for learning, the greater the shift toward a growth-oriented mindset, the more significant the benefits. The good news is that everybody can do this and it’s never too late. Scientific studies have demonstrated that mindset is not fixed and can be cultivated and transformed throughout life. Various methods and tools are available for this purpose. Although it does demand effort and consistent work over time, even taking small steps can set you on the path to success.
Start Cultivating Your Growth Mindset
Mindset is one of several key risk factors that can have a radical impact on your quality of life, rate of aging, risk of disease, and lifespan. However, cultivating a growth mindset can be a real challenging and the journey is different for everyone.
The Longevity Institute included the Growth Mindset risk factor in the Longevity App to help you assess your status and get guidance and continous support for improving this. If you haven’t already, download the free Longevity app now to get a powerful companion on the journey towards identifying and improving critical lifestyle risk factors to enhance your daily vitality, lower your biological age, extend your lifespan, and reduce your risk of diseases, including stress, depression, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and dementia.
References
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Wang, H. X., Karp, A., & Winblad, B. (2002). Late-life engagement in social and leisure activities is associated with a decreased risk of dementia: a longitudinal study from the Kungsholmen project. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 50(5), 74-77.
Hertzog, C., Kramer, A. F., Wilson, R. S., & Lindenberger, U. (2009). Enrichment effects on adult cognitive development: Can the functional capacity of older adults be preserved and enhanced? Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9(1), 1-65.
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Mangels, J. A., Butterfield, B., Lamb, J., Good, C., & Dweck, C. S. (2006). Why do beliefs about intelligence influence learning success? A social cognitive neuroscience model. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 1(2), 75-86.
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