Ever thought about taking up a new sport, a new hobby, or maybe an instrument?

If you're an adult, especially in middle age, learning new things is essential to keeping the brain fit.

In this episode, we speak with a neuroscientist who is trying to not only prove the use it or lose it theory,

but show us why keeping the body moving can also do our brains good.

I'm Audrey Hamilton, and this is Speaking of Psychology.

Music is speaking of psychology. Tracy Shores is a distinguished professor in the Department of Psychology and Center for Collaborative Neuroscience at Rutgers University.

As a neuroscientist, she investigates how the brain learns and remembers.

And when it comes to the brain, she's discovering how important it is to use it or lose it.

Welcome, Dr. Shores.

Thank you. It's a pleasure to speak with you today.

Your research focuses on something called neurogenesis.

I have no idea.

Can you explain what that means?

Yes.

Neurogenesis is the production of new neurons in the brain, and of course, neurons are the

major cells in the brain that are used to communicate information.

For many years, we didn't know that the brain continued to make new neurons

after birth. However, about 10 or 15 years ago, it became clear that the brain does continue

to produce these new neurons, and they're produced in a part of the brain known as the hippocampus.

The hippocampus is involved in learning. So there's been a lot of

work recently to show that these cells are involved in learning and are certainly affected by learning.

Keeping our brains fit seems to be a lot like exercising our bodies. Now you found a way to

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