My Defence Against Dementia

It happened twice.

Two different people. Different days. Same result.

We are walking along the river, talking about a myriad of topics, in a free-flowing conversation. We jump from one topic to another – laughing, scowling, celebrating, worrying – it’s hard to keep track.

You know those kind of conversations?

I am usually the one who says “What was I saying?” Then some young thing quickly recites a full list of the last five ideas and how they connected.

Except, I was the young thing this time.

My youthful companion frequently got lost - I was able to recite back what he’d said instantly. Effortless.

I’ve been exercising my brain at BrainHQ.com for almost two years now: 10,0047 stars; 3,355 levels completed; now in the 89th Percentile for people my age.

Why do it? Well, why do musicians practise scales?

A good friend of mine – a bass player of many decades, bands and recordings – was explaining his recent epiphany:

“I’ve got to keep practicing scales. They are they tiny particles of every piece of music I make. Rehearsing these primary notes gives me freedom when playing jazz – there’s a versatility and readiness in me to go wherever I want; and know I will hit the note I need.”

I am not a musician. I am sure there is an opposite and alternative view (isn’t there always?), yet what he told me made sense. A jazz player who appreciates practicing each of the “particles” that go into producing his nightly creations.

And the same is true for any of us, in all that we do.

What are the “particles” of communicating change to others?

Attention, Speed, Memory – as well as being empathetic and intelligent. Intelligent is like a grab bag of everything else. It is NOT an inherent ability with limitations, it is a supreme function that improves with practise.

“Improve” is too weak a word to describe how the brain can evolve.

It can literally reconstruct itself. Unlike any other organ we possess, it has the ability to repurpose itself – and it does this nano-second by nano-second.

At a conference of Physical Therapists in Texas just last month, Adrian Louw of the International Spine & Pain Institute declared:

“We have 125,000 miles of neural "wiring" that "rewires" itself every 3 weeks.”

READ THIS (a little experimental challenge for you):

The architect of this radicalization of centuries of bogus thinking is Merzenich, a quirky neuroscientist (a lot of them are it turns out) whose research, outrageous claims and stunning results in the areas of autism, reading skills and treating intractable cognitive disorders, has been one of the most influential efforts in moving mainstream neuroscientists into embracing our brain’s spectacular neuroplasticity.

If you are still reading – congratulations!

My last sentence just stacked together 18 different concepts.

If it all flowed for you, you have a superb short-term memory. A capacity to juggle many ideas – all together one after the other. Alexander loved sentences like that. I usually avoid them – as you may have noticed.

BrainHQ – where I personally repurpose my brain through ‘particle’ practise – is the brainchild of Merzenich. It consists of 29 different ‘games’ that are designed to rewire your brain maps. Some of them I ace out quickly. Others I end up shouting out loud in fury and frustration.

(Yes, really – I yell.)

Double Decisions† is one of 29 different ‘particle’ exercises at BrainHQ. This exercise engineers focused and peripheral vision. Of course, I don’t need a computer game to practise that.

As a teacher of Alexander's discovery – observing movements for decades – I figured I would be good at this exercise. And I was. My best time in seeing the flashed image correctly was 22 thousands of a second.

Stunning. I marvel at human brain power.

However, the real benefit for me came in noticing the effects of random thoughts. Whenever I had a thought like “will I improve my time?” or “am I at the end yet?” or anything unrelated to the task, my performance instantly degraded.

Just like a musician practising notes, feedback is swift and uncompromising.

In everyday life, it’s impossible to get such instant and accurate feedback. In particle practise, it is unforgiving. It’s a reality check – how well are you really doing?

This kind of honest feedback is precious. And fruitful.

In my teaching at BodyChance, I have developed a new modus operandi on how I am observing my students – based on the feedback I obtained through my particle practise.

And yes, research shows that the best defence against dementia is to keep working your brain. There’s that too.

I intend to keep practising my notes.

***

The 60Day Foundations course starting tomorrow is another way of ‘particle’ practise your communication – this time with the elements that build success. Last chance. Book here.

† In Double Decision, BrainHQ will quickly flash one of two different cars before you. Next, you must choose which car they flashed. You are tested by how quickly you can see the car. However, at the same time they are flashing the car, they are also flashing a “Speed Limit” sign on the periphery. You have to see the speed limit sign at the same time as you see the car. No looking here, then looking there. No time for that. You must see both car and sign at the same time. They display 8 different signs, and you must pick the correct location of the speed limit sign. There are 40 different levels – each level progressively more challenging. After 18 months, I am at level 20, because I refuse to move up until I am a 5 star player at each level!

Picture Credit: Dieter – Pixabay