Building Cognitive Resilience

My strategies for mental agility as I age

Image by Tumisu on Pixabay

After refining my physical fitness regime over the past few years, I have refocused that attention towards improving my cognitive health and fitness.

When we were young, we may have found it amusing to brag about the number of brain cells we lost during drinking games, but now it is no laughing matter.

We need every brain cell we can muster as we age.

My research on the aging brain threw up some sobering statistics:

According to the Alzheimer's Association, 55 million people worldwide live with Alzheimer's and other dementias.

Image on Alzheimer’s Association website

That's too close for comfort!

I learnt that the most common form of dementia is Alzheimer's, which accounts for 60-80%, and Alzheimer's is the leading cause of dementia. However, it is not a normal part of aging.

How many of us joke about having a senior's moment? It's no joke.

Cognition refers to the mental functions involved in attention, thinking, understanding, learning, remembering, solving problems and decision-making fundamental to successfully negotiating the world. ¹

As we age, all our organs, including the brain, decline in function. The brain’s declining capacity means lower information processing speed impacting tasks like driving and independence for older adults. It’s a slippery slope.

However, science now informs us that growing and maintaining brain components at any age is doable.

A healthy lifestyle is the antidote to cognitive decline. You know the drill. A healthy diet, physical exercise, sleep, social engagement and mental stimulation will get you cognitive health.

Cognitive fitness builds on cognitive health.

My aim now is to go a step further to create cognitive reserves. Like peak physical fitness allows us to weather a physical setback here and there, cognitive fitness keeps us mentally sharp.

Here are a few tools I am experimenting with:

U3A Creative Writing, especially poetry sessions, challenges my non-creative brain. Last week, this non-poetry-loving person created a poem. It wasn't great, but I could feel something click in my brain. Maybe I can do this.

U3A French presents a similar challenge. After playing Duolingo for a few years on and off, my new French teacher has a different approach. She challenges us to read whole passages in French out loud. Even though I didn't understand all I was reading, I felt my brain click. She pointed out that language is a physical skill. It changes the brain. She also commented that one of her teachers said, 'Speaking another language allows you to think thoughts you have never thought'. Interesting!

Lumosity Brain Games

I have seen online brain games for several years but resisted. Did I need more dopamine?

Then, my interest in cognitive fitness tempted me to give brain training games a go as a research project. So I tested a few and settled on Lumosity.

Lumosity uses AI to create personalised training programs for its users. The software analyses user performance adapting training to individual needs to improve cognitive abilities more effectively and efficiently. Some games also incorporate AI opponents to provide a more challenging and dynamic gaming experience.

The company claims that the program can enhance attention, memory and processing speed leading to improved mental agility and flexibility. However, they were fined $2m in 2016 for false claims about brain health benefits. Even so, I am happy to conduct (n=1) research.

Day 1 startled me.

While I was at the 96th percentile for maths from the first game, the other games didn't fare well. As a result, my overall first score was at the 12.4th percentile compared to my age group. Oh, dear! I have moved to the 40th percentile in a week, but my short-term memory needs serious exercise.

And I was right. I am addicted. Solving problems and getting a dopamine hit produces squeals of delight, scaring my husband as he quietly reads. He is the problem solver in the house, and I have let my skills slide over the years by relying on him. It's time to balance up.

I also took their research test - the NeuroCognitive test, and will retest in a month to see if there is an improvement.

Mindsera for Writing and Critical Thinking

Recently, I came across this AI-powered tool designed to train thinking skills. Anne-Laure Le Cunff of Ness Labs interviewed Mindsera founder Chris Reinberg.

They discussed research stating that the essential work skills of the future are cognitive skills - critical thinking, decision-making, problem-solving, creativity, mental resilience and continuous learning,

Reinberg believes teaching people to write is the best way to teach critical thinking. Writing is thinking. It's easier to sort out what's going on in your brain when it's out of your head.

Mindsera is a supercharged journal that delivers insights into what we write.

My first experience with the software was journaling. I have never been a great journaler; my intermittent daily journal consists of a description of the mundanity of my day. But I had to start somewhere. Mundanity would be OK. Each piece of Mindsera writing is analysed, creating an artwork representation, a summary, an emotional evaluation, a paragraph on the personality and some action steps.

I questioned the value. However, I noticed a negative pattern in my daily emotions after a few days. Is that my default state? My attitude needed to shift. Thanks to this feedback, I am now more conscious of maintaining a more positive state.

Also, when I have random thoughts or ideas throughout the day, I jot them into the journal to tease out and glean insight. Insights into my mindset that have escaped me are now captured on the page. As I progress, I look forward to reviewing past journal entries. I imagine I will collect additional mindset insights.

Secondly, Mindsera has a feature to ask questions within different frameworks like Productivity, Decision Making, Problem Solving, Wellness and Business. Successful people use multiple models of the world to inform their thinking and decisions instead of an unconscious way of seeing the world most people use.

You've got to have models in your head, and you've got to array your experience - both vicarious and direct - onto this latticework of mental models. - Charlie Munger, Investor

I basically load my head full of mental models. - Naval Ravikant, Founder Angel List

If you can think and write, you are absolutely deadly. Nothing can get in your way. Thinking is the most powerful weapon you can have. - Dr Jordan P Peterson, Clinical Psychologist & Author

Under the Problem-Solving category, there are six frameworks to analyse a current challenge. Within each of those six is the choice to journal in response to a set of questions or to question an AI coach.

I tested the framework 'One Level Higher' with a simple question 'How can I improve my writing?' The AI coach’s response was, 'It's not about improving writing but improving your writing system' This idea bounced me into a whole new way of thinking I was able to explore further.

Then there are AI Mentors from Socrates to Steve Jobs to ask questions and discuss any topic.

I put Socrates to the test.

I'm an AI model trained to imitate Socrates. How can I help?

I'm a great partner for philosophical discussions. I utilise the Socratic method of questioning to delve deeply into topics and explore them thoroughly.

My simple question, 'What is cognitive fitness?' took me into a serious Q&A that challenged every part of my brain. An hour later, I had to lay down for a nap! It was intense. But I came away with numerous ideas to consider and research further.

Finally, I engage in more challenging reading. I read fellow Substack author Freddie Deboerr with keen interest. His recent article The Almond Butter Test eloquently discusses AI vs Consciousness thinking. It is well worth a read.

As I see it, AI is a tool to build cognitive fitness and critical thinking, not to think for me.

1. Institute of Medicine. 2015. Cognitive Aging: Progress in Understanding and Opportunities for Action. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/21693.