NB (26) above indicates the latest post & numerical order
Recycling my memory?
Years ago, I needed to upgrade the memory of my desktop PC. So, I bought an upgraded module with greater memory and then sold the old one to someone with a similar machine and motherboard: sorted. As a person living with Parkinson's Disease (PD) I wish I could recycle my brain and memory like I did with my PC without having to undergo something invasive, such as deep brain stimulation (DBS).
If you have read my earlier blog posts you will know that I chose to avoid chronic PD medication since I was diagnosed in 2013. Subsequently, I have focused on alternative approaches and discovered strategies that help my gait, balance and mindset. All of these strategies together with my personal theories, appear in earlier posts. Today I will revisit the idea of retraining my brain.
Next time, in post 27, I will attempt to unpack neuroplasticity and how this might relate to me and others with PD. (I've included this link by way of preparation as there's a short, explanatory animation).
Train a brain and gain
Srini Pillay wrote a piece in the Harvard Business Review (HBR, June 2017) titled: The ways your brain manages overload, and how to improve them. To support these 'ways' he reduces the brain's sophisticated roles and functions to that of machines with which we are familiar at home and the office and provides six principles to improve a brain's functions. An excerpt with embedded links follows:
"...the human brain - your brain - is metaphorically endowed with a vacuum cleaner that sucks up information; a container for short-term memory; a blender for integrating information; a memory bank for storing long-term information; a garbage disposal for getting rid of information; and a recycling machine extraordinaire. Using each of these functions effectively is critical if one wants to manage information overload..."
My brain - and yours, dear reader - has learnt to carry out sophisticated, overtly physical tasks such as walking, driving, playing sport, etc. as well as overtly mental tasks such as teaching and learning, constructing theories, completing crosswords, etc. over many years. In fact, since our birth. However, when Parkinson's Disease (PD) hijacked my system it stole my confidence, my ability to move and sometimes my ability to think. In my opinion, my hijacked PD brain is in a constant state of overload!
I wish to focus on Pillay's (2017) third principle in his article, regarding selective filtering. With reference to one's "placing a filter on the [short-term memory] container", he says that a short-term memory container is like a mug of ideas where space is limited. He suggests we develop a "proactive and reactive" selection of daily information so our mugs are not filled up unnecessarily.
So, according to Pillay (2017), information selection in a "reactive" manner is when there is "TMI" ("Too much information") resulting in our talking to our brains and telling ourselves to ignore it. I suggest that such talking is similar to the notion of 'cueing' that I have described earlier. As a consequence, a "proactive" selection of information is when we actually engage in "preparing" our brain, laying the foundation, for instance, to ignore "TMI". To illustrate, when we're in a meeting, we can switch off our mobiles or select a "do not disturb" function to selectively remove "TMI" so there's less distraction.
For the past five years I have been actively composing cues for myself and then consciously executing them when required. I have been laying new foundations for my basic functions of walking and dressing. This "cueing" could be similar to "reactive" information selection.
Selective filtering: "reactive" info selection
MY BIG QUESTION: Why does existing use of old muscle memory - it's worked for nearly seventy years - make me freeze during a familiar action, such as putting on sandals or getting up from a chair, yet, my reactive response or cueing bypasses the now old muscle memory and I am able to complete those actions? And, remember, I am not taking any PD medication.
I am aware that driving a car is regarded as part of one's implicit or unconscious memory and represents an action that is not consciously recalled. However, also on this list is dressing and walking. I do not understand how and where my reactive approach has allowed me to bypass the impact of Parkinson's and make parts of my dressing and walking a conscious recall. I am reasonably confident a neurologist would provide some theoretical answer to clear up my confusion.
And one possible answer, dear reader, is the neuroplasticity of my brain. I will ponder this imponderable - like Pinky and the Brain - and attempt a response in the next post.
For those inclined: finely-tuned brains
Playing a musical instrument is supposed to be the perfect stimulant for those with PD. For the past 5 years PD has reduced me to being a listener.
My favourite overseas jazz band is an American group called Fourplay. In the link below they perform live in Japan: Fourplay live in Tokyo (2013). Act 1 (the first 35 minutes) is the band playing on their own and is for jazz lovers. Act 11 is them performing for about an hour with the New Japan Philharmonic orchestra, combining classical and jazz. Quite a multitasking accomplishment for the conductor Taizo Takemoto, the Fourplay composers (Bob James, Harvey Mason) and all the musicians.
Till next time, stay safe.
