PUMPING IRONY: Lessons Worth Learning

The notion that “lifelong learning” might be a salutary pursuit for older adults has been promoted for so many years that it’s almost descended into cliché. You know the advice: take a cooking class, learn how to crochet, fashion a few pieces of ungainly pottery to hide in the far reaches of some cupboard. It gets you out of the house, exercises your gray matter, and maybe brightens your day.

That’s the idea, anyway. Several years ago, My Lovely Wife and I spent a few humbling weeks trying to learn French in a community education class. The only benefit I could discern from that futile pursuit was that it effectively suppressed any interest in expanding my educational horizons in the future.

I may be an outlier, of course. Those who have championed this idea argue that it sharpens the cognitive tools we all need to function effectively in our later years. And there’s some evidence to suggest they aren’t necessarily overpromising: A 2014 study, for instance, found that seniors who took classes in quilting and digital photography enjoyed “a significant increase in episodic memory” when compared with a control group. I’ve mostly blocked episodic memories of those French classes — but maybe that’s just me.

Other research has suggested that such cognitive challenges may also lead to better mental health among seniors. And just last week, University of California, Riverside, psychologist Rachel Wu, PhD, and her team released the results of two studies showing the emotional effects of continuing education on older adults during a particularly stressful period — the COVID pandemic.

Researchers found that those who engaged in various adult-education pursuits prior to and during the pandemic reported better mental health — fewer episodes of loneliness and depression — than those who didn’t attend such classes. “People who were actively learning fared better in terms of mental health outcomes, especially older adults who might otherwise have been more vulnerable to isolation and stress,” notes lead study author Lilian Azer, PhD.

Those emotional benefits, however, took some time to accrue; in some cases, an entire year passed before participants were able to report improved well-being. That’s because cognitive challenges (like learning French) can generate more frustration than satisfaction. But, as Wu explains, the process can make the aging brain more resilient. “Learning can be difficult and uncomfortable in the short term,” she notes. “But that short-term discomfort actually helps protect us in the long run.”

And there’s the rub: Seniors generally recoil from uncomfortable situations. It’s the basis of what’s known as the socioemotional selectivity theory, which posits that the older we get the more likely we are to prefer emotional satisfaction over exploring new challenges. That makes perfect sense, Wu admits, but it can leave us more vulnerable than necessary when a crisis strikes.

“If we only do what feels good in the moment, we might be giving up the ability to adapt when life throws something big at us,” she says. “You don’t want to wait until you have to learn something in a crisis. Seek out challenges. Keep growing. That’s how you stay ready.”

MLW and I may have flunked French, but we’ve not completely abandoned learning opportunities. She’s a frequent attendee at local art classes and recently revisited a long-delayed knitting project. You’ll not find me sitting in a classroom somewhere or laboring over a ball of yarn, but I might argue that I encounter enough cognitive challenges in my editorial work to maintain my generally sunny disposition and keep my aging neurotransmitters in decent repair.

Who knows? Someday I may even brush up on my high school Spanish.