What learning something new does for your brain health, according to experts

Learning Japanese for fun. Doing the Sunday crossword puzzle for the first time at 30. Taking a ceramics class. Mastering petit point. Joining a book club. What do these activities have in common? They challenge you in new ways, potentially adding years to your brain health.

According to neuroscientists, challenging your brain in novel ways helps with the formation of new neurons—even the ones you feared you’d lost in your reckless twenties. In the book The Atomic Brain, author and researcher Beatriz Larrea explains that the brain can regenerate, and that a stimulating environment favours neurogenesis, or the creation of new neurons. She cites research published in The Lancet showing that cognitive challenge works like a pension plan for the mind: the more stimulation you accumulate over the years, through education or work, the lower the risk of dementia. Conversely, retirement can accelerate cognitive decline by up to 40%, largely due to inactivity. Which is why Larrea insists on curiosity—the habit of learning something new—as the most powerful trigger for keeping the brain alive and adaptive.

Learning and neuroplasticity

“Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to adapt, change, and reorganise itself throughout life,” explains Dr Amaya Manrique of The Beauty Concept in Madrid. “Our neurons can form new connections, strengthen existing ones or even create alternative pathways.”

Our brains form new connections and pathways when we learn something new. “The more you use a pathway, the stronger and faster it becomes. But stop using a pathway and it can disappear, favouring or creating new roads to get to the same pathways,” she explains. “Starting any activity from scratch, with the curiosity of a child, can help our brains create new pathways.”

The state of flow

Think of all those times you’ve started a new hobby or developed a new skill at work. You’re motivated and focused. Nothing can distract you. Time feels like it doesn’t exist. This is called the flow state—and not only does it promote neuroplasticity, it also increases feelings of well-being.

“When we find ourselves immersed in an activity that we really like, one that’s challenging enough not to be boring but not so difficult that it’s frustrating, we enter a state of flow,” explains personal development coach Laura G Ortiz de Zárate. “It happens with tasks that make us lose track of time, that produce creative tension, and in which we have a high level of productivity.”