Lifelong learning

Sometimes it feels like someone peeled my skull back while I was sleeping and replaced my brain with a big cotton swab.

I was once part of a Reach for the Top team that won the Metro Toronto Championships for seven years in a row, my mind so full of arcane and useless knowledge that it was annoying at times. But it was a selective memory at best.

For instance, I couldn’t remember how to find the circumference of a circle, but I could remember that Jon Baker, Frank Poncherello’s partner on the television series ChiPs was played by Larry Wilcox.

I remember that the Battle of Hastings took place in 1066; the Spanish Armada was defeated in 1588 by Francis Drake and Lord Howard; and the D-Day invasion took place on June 6, 1944. Important dates made more memorable by the double-digits.

I have more difficulty remembering that the Magna Carta, which reaffirmed the power of law and laid the foundations for democracy in the wake of the Battle of Hastings, was written in 1215. I forget that Francis Drake was also the first explorer to circumnavigate the globe starting in 1577, raiding Spanish settlements along the way. I forget that General Eisenhower was the Supreme Commander of the allied forces at D-Day.

There’s nothing more frustrating than something you used to know, a name or a date on the tip of your tongue, the right way to do something. Every time I jump start a dead car battery I forget what order I’m supposed to attach the cables. (Both cars off. 1) Connect positive of dead battery with the red cable. 2) Connect the positive terminal of the live battery. 3) Connect the negative of the live battery. 4) connect the remaining clamp to a metal "ground" in the car, preferably part of the frame. Start car with live battery, run for a minute or two, then start the car with the dead battery. Remove the clamps in the reverse order you put them on.)

Naturally I attribute my memory loss and seeming inability to learn to the aging process, my lifestyle, television, and the past seven concussions. According to a new study, however, that’s just a cop-out. My brain is just as capable of learning and retaining information as it ever was. It’s just gotten lazy.

Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, which is based in California, have discovered that all mammals are capable of creating new, fully-functional brain cells.

Scientists discovered this trait in mice, as new cells were generated in the hippocampus area of the brain that is important for learning and memory.

The new cells mature over a length of time to form functional neurons in the adult brain.

They also discovered that mice that are stimulated by physical activities in large cages produced more brain cells than more inert mice in smaller cages.

Scientists are hoping that the same process that allows the hippocampus to continue to produce new cells could be adapted to other areas of the brain, curing various neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

For me, it means I can still learn and retain what I learn as well as I did in school, providing I make the effort. I can learn a language, relearn history, and maybe pass my Grade 11 math class without resorting to cheating.

With people having to continually upgrade their skills these days it’s becoming evident that learning is a lifelong pursuit that shouldn’t end when you get handed the diploma.

Lucky for us, we have the Internet at our disposal, which is probably the most important educational tool since the alphabet and the abacus. The following Web sites can help you get back on track.

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