It’s never to late to learn something new, as doing so can lead to improvements in mental health. The old idea that you learn what you can before your thirties and then work through life with a static brain are gone—the brain is always adaptable and malleable, ready to change whenever you throw something new at it.

Learning something new—whatever it is—can boost your brain power. But certain things can be more effective than others. For example, learning a new language, mathematics, computer programming, and music, have all shown to be powerful brain boosters. Now, as the New York Times shows, learning a new sport is also in that realm:

Past neurological studies in people have shown that learning a new physical skill in adulthood, such as juggling, leads to increases in the volume of gray matter in parts of the brain related to movement control.

Even more compelling, a 2014 study with mice found that when the mice were introduced to a complicated type of running wheel, in which the rungs were irregularly spaced so that the animals had to learn a new, stutter-step type of running, their brains changed significantly. Learning to use these new wheels led to increased myelination of neurons in the animals’ motor cortexes. Myelination is the process by which parts of a brain cell are insulated, so that the messages between neurons can proceed more quickly and smoothly.

Not only is exercise amazing at keeping us healthy and fit, but by getting some of that exercise from a new sport, we effectively act to strengthen our brain. Check out the full post for more details.

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