Kotulak specifically cited the success of Head Start, arguing for major funding increases for the program. Both Nussbaum and Kotulak would probably agree that school systems and early childhood education programs could become the wellness centers of the 21st century. Students might be paid to go to school by their health insurer because education reduces the risk of getting ill later in life. The new knowledge about the brain leads Nussbaum to recommend that habits of mental stimulation be maintained throughout life. His multidimensional vision of learning in later life integrates older adults into society.
Older adults have the capacity to be much more than passive students.
They represent a vast resource for teaching, civic involvement and meaningful service. Homo sapiens is a gregarious species. But while exercise is critical, it may be education that is more important. In the 21st century, education and information may become for the brain what exercise is for the heart. Nussbaum urged his colleagues in the field of aging to take chances, to foster new ideas and to work together.