9 . In many adults, learning and thinking begin to decline (衰退) as early as age 30 and become worse in their mid-60s, which is shown in tests of cognitive(认知的) abilities.

These changes are often considered as the result of normal aging. But they may instead show something more like the “summer slide” that some schoolchildren experience in study process during summer break. After formal education and job training end, many adults experience years of reduced chances of learning.

However, a three-month study Rachel Wu and her partners designed suggests that this decline can be addressed. In this study, they provided an encouraging learning environment for 24 older adults between 58 and 86 years of age. Before and after, they tested the cognitive abilities. The older adults signed up for at least three classes that met weekly to learn new skills, such as drawing, iPad using and Spanish-language learning. During this period, the adults’ cognitive scores for memory improved greatly, and their cognitive abilities after one year were similar to those of adults 50 years younger.

The team is still investigating why their cognitive scores continued to climb after the program’s end, but one possibility is that the experience encouraged these adults to continue learning and practice new skills. To be clear, the researchers do not think that formal education is the only or most important way to support learning. Their idea is to instead create encouraging environments for older adults, so they can increase both real-world skills and cognitive abilities over the long term.

“Use it or lose it,” the saying goes. Let’s change the conversation about adults from avoiding loss and decline, or keeping what people have, to learning and growing.