A recent study determined that volunteering in a social setting netted dual results: Others were helped, and the seniors made gains in brain function.
In this particular study, volunteers age 60 and over were recruited to teach literacy and other skills to children in kindergarten through third grade. After two weeks of training, they worked alongside other volunteers for 15 hours per week for six months. The volunteers had brain MRIs before the study started, and follow-up MRIs when the study was finished.
At the end of the study, the volunteers showed increases in brain activity and cognitive function, which proved the point the researchers were trying to make: Specific activities can increase "plasticity" in the brain and "prevent or halt age-vulnerable cognitive and neurological declines."
This is more than a case of "use it or lose it," as the skills were not those we would necessarily use every day. The specific skills the volunteers used in this program were problem solving, literacy support, conflict resolution and being able to work through distractions.
One thing that came out of the study was that it's important that the activities have meaning. Researchers had a high level of participants who stayed with the program, likely because it was rewarding and stimulating to work with the children.
If we're to use social volunteering as a means of strengthening our own brain functioning, we need to decide what things matter to us -- literacy, poverty, animal welfare, soup kitchen and food bank, transportation for cancer or dialysis patients, tree planting, Habitat for Humanity -- and focus on those activities.
What matters the most to you?
Matilda Charles regrets that she cannot personally answer reader questions, but will incorporate them into her column whenever possible. Write to her in care of King Features Weekly Service, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475, or send e-mail to columnreply@gmail.com.
(c) 2010 King Features Synd., Inc.
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