As summer turns to fall, the days get shorter, people refocus on school and work and many of us find our social calendars a little emptier. Our suggestion for keeping your social life, well, social? Take a class.

Continuing education classes are everywhere. Check out the library, community center, senior center and even the grocery store for classes being offered this fall. Enhance your skills for an existing passion, like cooking or computer programming, or step out of your comfort zone and try something new, like knitting or tae kwon do.

The wonderful thing about taking a class – an in-person class, online doesn’t count! – is that you’ll connect with other people with similar interests. Whether you take the friendship outside of the classroom or simply enjoy the time learning together, the social interaction is extremely valuable to your brain health.

Research shows that regular social activity promotes creation of new brain cells. So stimulate your brain this fall by signing up for a class or two.

What community classes do you attend?