MINDFULNESS, WORD GAMES AND DEMENTIA

I turned 60 in March. In some ways I can’t believe I've made it to 60. Until I gave up drinking some 15 years ago I drank enough alcohol for 3 or 4 lifetimes. And I smoked a hell of a lot too until I gave up smoking some years ago. And I suffered from clinical depression for many years as well. I could go on. My major concern now is warding off dementia. (By the way, dementia is not a specific disease. It's an overall term that describes a wide range of symptoms associated with a decline in memory or other thinking skills severe enough to reduce a person's ability to perform everyday activities. Alzheimer's disease accounts for 60 to 80 per cent of cases.)

Now, I haven’t been diagnosed with dementia but in recent times I have observed in myself some cognitive changes that are consistent with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), in particular, some loss of ability to remember recent events. I know one thing, I am definitely not as mentally 'sharp' as I was 20 years ago, or even 5 years ago.

Source: Physiopedia. Carers guide to dementia.

MCI is a slight but noticeable and measurable decline in cognitive abilities, including memory and thinking skills. It can affect up to 20 per cent of the population at any one time—and half of them will progress to full-on dementia. In other words, a person with MCI is at an increased risk of developing dementia. Of course, years of drinking didn’t help there, but there are certain risk factors not in my favour such as past heavy drinking and smoking, hypertension and elevated cholesterol (albeit both well-controlled these days), and depression (well in the past now, but who knows).

A year or so ago my neurologist gave me a simple dementia test (a cognitive test). I passed the test but I had a little bit of trouble with one or two tasks, the main one being this --- I was asked to name, in 60 seconds, as many words as I could beginning with the letter, say, ‘T’. I started out well --- ‘task’, ‘test’, ‘train’, ‘transport’, ‘truck’, and so on, and so on, but after calling out about a dozen words beginning with the letter ‘T’ there was a long silence on my part. That’s right. I  just couldn’t think of any more words beginning with the letter ‘T’. Well, I did pass the test overall but I scored not at all well on the task just described. Hmm.

So, I am into so-called ‘brain games’ in the form of various word games and puzzles (my favourite one is that old chestnut Jotto, a logic-oriented game), IQ test problems, brisk walking, and various other activities including, of course, mindfulness. 

I’m good on numerical ability (despite hating math at school), classification and general mental ability, and very good on visuo-spatial ability but, despite being a very good wordsmith, it comes as quite as a shock to learn that I’m not good at all when it comes to questions, games and puzzles that test verbal ability (eg ‘Find the odd one out: LEEGA / WARPSOR / RALK / LAHEW … Answer: WHALE [All the others are birds: eagle, sparrow and lark]). Hence, Jotto. (My favourite actress, Lucille Ball, excelled in Jotto and other word games such as Scrabble, so I've read. She would even play Jotto while at the wheel of her car, being able to retain in her head a whole series of 'jots', a jot being a certain number of letters that were in both the guessed word and the ‘secret word’.)

Now, as to the importance of engaging in active leisure activities to help ward off dementia, there are studies suggesting that those who have no leisure activities, or who have very little diversity in leisure activities, or who engage only in passive leisure activities (principally watching TV) are more likely to develop dementia (see, eg, Friedland R P et al, Proc Nat Acad Sci USA, 10.1073/pnas. 061002998). Additionally, it seems that leisure activities may reduce the risk of incident dementia, possibly by providing a reserve that delays the onset of clinical manifestations of the disease (see, eg, Scarmeas N et al, Neurology 2001;57(12):2236-42). 

And diet? Well, dietary patterns have long been associated with decreasing cognitive decline and reducing one’s risk of dementia. In that regard, those who follow the MIND diet (high on natural plant-based foods and low on animal and high saturated fat foods) can lower their dementia risk by as much as 50 per cent. So, like many others, I've made some changes to my diet.

As an aside, there are a couple of prescription medications I take that can cause memory loss. The drugs in question are a statin (a cholesterol-lowering drug) and an anticonvulsant (to treat nerve pain associated with my trigeminal neuralgia).

As respects statins, a study published in the journal Pharmacotherapy in 2009 found that three out of four people using statins experienced adverse cognitive effects ‘probably or definitely related to’ the drug. The researchers also found that 90 per cent of the patients who stopped statin therapy reported improvements in cognition, sometimes within days. In February 2012 the US Food and Drug Administration ordered drug companies to add a new warning label about possible memory problems to the prescribing information for statins.

Then, there is the anticonvulsant drug that I take. Anticonvulsants, that depress signalling in the central nervous system, can cause memory loss.

Now, here’s something close to my heart and the subject-matter of my blog. A 2013 study published in Neuroscience Letters found as little as 15 minutes of daily meditation can significantly slow that progression. Researchers had a group of adults with MCI, all between the ages of 55 and 90, do a guided meditation for 15 to 30 minutes a day for eight weeks, as well attend weekly mindfulness check-ins. Eight weeks later, MRIs showed improved functional connectivity in the default mode network (that is, the part of your brain that never shuts down activity), and slowed shrinkage of the hippocampus, the main part of the brain responsible for memory that usually shrinks with dementia. Participants also showed an overall improvement in cognition and well-being.

Studies also show that brain-training games help to sharpen the mind and potentially prevent cognitive diseases like Alzheimer’s disease. As for speaking more than one language, it would appear that being bilingual helps delay the onset of several forms of dementia. Previous studies of people with Alzheimer’s in Canada showed that those who are fluent in two languages begin to exhibit symptoms four to five years later than people who are monolingual. 

A leading theory as to why bilingualism can affect dementia suggests the key may be the constant suppression of one language, and switching between the two. If switching languages is the reason, it could also explain why the researchers saw no additional benefits of speaking more than two languages. So, I’m trying to re-learn French, a subject in which I excelled at high school (7th in the State [New South Wales, Australia] in the HSC in 1972), but now a language I’ve virtually forgotten in the ensuing 43 years. And I'm finding it damn hard! Whereas 40 years ago I could learn, say, a dozen new French words each evening, and remember them all a week later (and longer), it's not so today. I've forgotten most of the words by next morning. It's all very depressing, especially in light of something I've read, namely, that picking up a new language's vocabulary is supposedly much easier for adults than learning the rules that govern its grammar or syntax. (As for the latter, egad!) Additionally, it is said that older learners of another language are less likely to have good pronunciation or accent.

Well, there we have it. Am I worried that I may get dementia? Yes and no. Yes, for obvious reasons. No, because I live my life one day at a time, never thinking the worst nor fearing it. I'm ready for whatever life dishes out.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: See the Terms of Use and Disclaimer. The information provided on this blog is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Never delay or disregard seeking professional medical advice from your medical practitioner or other qualified health provider because of something you have read on this blog. For immediate advice or support call Lifeline on 13 1 1 14 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800. For information, advice and referral on mental illness contact the SANE Helpline on 1800 18 SANE (7263) go online via sane.org.
Is Alcoholics Anonymous for you? 

LUCILLE BALL ON MINDFULNESS

‘In life, all good things come hard,
but wisdom is the hardest to come by.’

‘Not everything that is faced can be changed,
but nothing can be changed until it is faced.’

Lucille Ball (1911-1989)

 In an article entitled ‘My Dearest Memories,’ published in the September 21, 1966 edition of The Australian Women’s Weekly, the legendary actress, comedienne and producer Lucille Ball [pictured left as well as below right] had this to say about God:

'To me, God is a hill, a cloud, a tree, a Christmas eve on top of a high bridge, my grandmother Hunt's backyard during a rainstorm. That backyard is where I sensed the presence of God. Every nook was utilised, beautifully arranged with flowers and rocks, young bushes and fruit trees. The seasons seemed holy---an incense of hyacinths each spring; oak golds and purples in autumn; a snow-covered stillness in winter with the hieroglyphic tracks of birds, rabbits, cats, and dogs in the drifts.

'Is it possible for a backyard to be a church for a child? It was for me---it was my sanctuary.'

That's pantheism, some will say, to which I say, ‘So what? Pantheism makes more sense than traditional theism.’ Actually, it’s not pantheism at all but a mindful appreciation of the innate sacredness and holiness of the eternal now---and that’s something very beautiful indeed.

Here's an even earlier memory of Miss Ball's---taken from her posthumously published autobiography Love, Lucy---that once again reveals her incredible capacity for mindfulness:

'My father's condition never improved. His grippe turned into typhoid fever. He died not long after that storm. He was only twenty-eight and my mother was almost twenty-three. I was not yet four, but I remember vividly the moment she told me Daddy was gone. I could tell you where the tables were, where the windows were, what they looked out on, where the bed was. And I remember at that very moment, a picture suddenly fell from the wall. And I noticed on the kitchen windowsill some little gray sparrows feeding.'

Mindfulness is the presence---note that word presence---of bare attention to, and choiceless awareness of, the action (be it internal or external) of the present moment from one moment to the next. Presence refers to both physical and psychological presence---your presence, that is. Insofar as your psychological presence is concerned, we are talking about a curious, deliberate, intentional, and reflexive awareness of what is, but in an 'un-self-conscious' frame of mind such that you are and remain ever open to whatever happens.

Miss Ball’s memories of her Grandmother Hunt’s backyard, and of her father's untimely death in 1915, have all the key elements of mindfulness, namely, a remembering what is present, and a remembering to stay present in the present moment from one moment to the next (it’s demonstrably clear that Miss Ball did both of those things, given the meticulous detail of her memories), and, finally, a remembering in the present moment that which has already happened (the remembering of a past event is an experience in the present). As respects the detail of her memories, attention to detail was one of Miss Ball's hallmarks. She once said, 'Perfectionism has become a dirty word but I think it means attention to detail, and it is the secret of many successful people.' Including herself, I might add.

Your moment-to-moment experience of the action of life as it continually unfolds from one moment to the next---when ‘accompanied’ by your simultaneous and instantaneous mindful physical and psychological presence with that action---is your ‘church,’ your ‘sanctuary.’ You see, worship has everything to do with ‘worthiness’ or ‘worth-ship,’ that is, ascribing worth to that which is worthy of the ascription, and very little to do with God or gods in the traditional, ‘church’ sense. Worship is a mindset that shows reverent love for the sacredness of the eternal now---and what could be more sacred or divine than that? 

However, a sense of the sacred or holy needs to be combined with what Miss Ball once referred to as 'that enchanting quality of being able to develop ... a "sense of play".' She noted that her old friend, film actor, comedian and producer Harold Lloyd, had that particular quality, along with 'authority and understanding ... vitality ... incomparable timing ... awareness of material ... [and an] ability to execute them all with a complete credibility.' Miss Ball had all those qualities, too---in spades.

Miss Ball was right to use the words ‘church’ and ‘sanctuary’ to refer to her childhood experiences and her later memories of the events in question. Hers was, in her own words, 'an everyday religon that works for me.' Although she was a close friend and 'disciple' of Dr Norman Vincent Peale and his spiritual philosophy ('I can talk to him on the phone for five minutes and feel I've been to church for a month,' she said in a 1974 interview), she was not into organized religion or dogma, didn't believe in an afterlife, and was fairly agnostic on most things 'religious' (despite saying, 'I regard myself as very religious without going to church'). 

Religious or not, there is no doubt that Miss Ball was very, very spiritual---and she understood what mindfulness is all about.

Images of Lucille Ball are licensed by Desilu, too, LLC.
Licensing by Unforgettable Licensing.
All Rights Reserved.

RELATED POSTS

ARE YOU A DREAM GIRL?

LUCILLE BALL AND THE ART OF BEING MINDFULLY BRILLIANT

LUCILLE BALL AND THE ART OF BEING MINDFULLY BRILLIANT

I have always held the view that Lucille Ball (pictured left), who was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honour, was the most talented and versatile actress (I refuse to say ‘actor’ in her case) – and certainly the greatest comedienne (ditto) – of all time.

Today, August 6, 2011, is the centenary of Miss Ball’s birth, and many activities will be taking place, mainly in the United States of America, to celebrate and commemorate, not just what would have been Lucy’s 100th birthday, but also the legacy the woman has left behind.

In Ball's home town of Jamestown, New York there will be a 'Lucille Ball Festival of Comedy.' America's Hallmark Channel is celebrating the centenary with a 48-hour marathon of I Love Lucy, focusing on the show's trips to Europe and Hollywood. TCM has decided to run a Ball marathon anchored by one of her 1930s films Stage Door. The Hollywood Museum has an extensive exhibit of 'Lucy-ana' that runs August 4-November 30, with Miss Ball's daughter Lucie Arnaz, I Love Lucy editor Dann Cahn and other notables on hand for the opening night. There's lots, lots more happening!

TV Guide said of Lucy in 1974, ‘Her face has been seen by more people, more times than the face of any other human being who ever lived.’ She has also been named by TV Guide as the 'Greatest TV Star of All Time.' I also recall Miss Ball’s first husband and I Love Lucy co-star and executive producer Desi Arnaz accepting a Photoplay ‘Gold Medal’ Award in 1977 for I love Lucy as the ‘Favourite All-time TV Series.’

There were many other awards, honours, accolades and citations ... including 'Queen of Comedy', 'Comedienne of the Century', 'First Lady of Comedy', and, of course, 'First Lady of Television.' Certainly no woman has ever been as successful in the entertainment world, and possibly the business world as well, as Lucille Ball.

I have, these past few days and weeks, read many online celebratory tributes to Miss Ball leading up to this day, the centenary of her birth. One of the 'best' I've read is this one from Marlo Thomas. She knew Miss Ball well, as did her parents and especially her father Danny Thomas, who delivered the eulogy at the Memorial Mass held for Desi Arnaz on December 4, 1986.

What 'made' Lucy so funny? That’s a silly question, because the moment you try to analyse comedy, it ‘dies’ on you. As another hero of mine, Groucho Marx, put it, ‘Analysing humour is like dissecting a frog. You can do it, but no one much enjoys it and the frog tends to die in the process.’

I cannot say what made Lucy so funny, and what I am now going to describe is not the reason why she was funny, but it does seem to be tied up with her funniness ... and her brilliant creativity.

The late film historian and critic Paul D Zimmerman once wrote in Newsweek that Miss Ball’s comedic acting had a ‘cartoon clarity’ about it. I like that. A ‘cartoon clarity’. That says it all. With traditional animation you have lots of quickly changing frames. Each frame is frozen in time and space, so to speak, but when a whole sequence of different frames – hundreds of them – is presented at just the right speed ... you have animation! Life!

Watch any rerun of I Love Lucy or any of Miss Ball’s later shows and you will see how resourceful and self-aware she truly was. Every move she made, her every facial expression, was an object-lesson in mindfulness. Awareness, attention to detail (without losing sight of the ‘big picture’), and a childlike curiosity and inquisitiveness were her ever-present stock-in-trade. I am reminded of some words of Stanislavski in An Actor’s Handbook:

In watching the acting of great artists ... their creative inspiration is always bound up with their concentration of attention ... The actor who has the trained habit can limit [their] attention within a circle of attention, [they] can concentrate on whatever enters that circle, and with only half an ear can listen to what transpires outside of it. ...

When Miss Ball acted, she threw her entire self into every aspect of her performance, giving total attention to whatever shtick she was being called upon to perform. She became one with the character she portrayed.

Let’s look at a clip (courtesy CBS and, as presented here, TCM) from the I Love Lucy episode 'Lucy Does a TV Commercial', which first aired in the United States of America on CBS-TV on May 5, 1952. You must be familiar with that episode ... it's the one where Lucy is hired to act as the 'Vitameatavegamin girl' in a TV commercial. The product - 'Vitameatavegamin' - contains, among other things, pure alcohol ... all 23 per cent of it. You can guess what happens. Watch ...

In October 2005 US fans voted this particular episode as their favourite during an I Love Lucy anniversary television special. TV Guide and Nick at Nite ranked it the 2nd greatest TV episode of all time after the Mary Tyler Moore Show episode 'Chuckles Bites the Dust'.

Watch Lucy’s face ... indeed, her whole body ... and listen to that voice. Yes, notice how cleverly Miss Ball varies her vocal elements (especially pitch, volume and speed) throughout the skit. Notice her mode of delivery, her gesticulation, eye contact with the camera, and how skilfully she makes use of pauses. I could go on, but I am now analysing her comedic art. Stop! It’s enough to say that everything Miss Ball says and does as Lucy Ricardo is said and done ... mindfully!

Even reading some of her lines, reproduced below (but, forgive me, not exactly as presented on film), is a study in the practical application of mindfulness:

LUCY. Hello friends, I'm your Vitameatavegamin Girl. Are you tired, rundown, listless? Do you poop out at parties? Are you unpopular? The answer to all your problems is in this little bottle ... Vitameatavegamin. Vitameatavegamin contains vitamins, meat, vegetables, and minerals. Yes, with Vitameatavegamin, you can spoon your way to health. All you do is take a tablespoon full after every meal ... [Lucy samples product.] It's so tasty too. Just like candy. ... So why don't you join the thousands of happy, peppy people and get a great big bottle of Vitameatavegamin tomorrow. That's Vita...Meata...Vegamin. ...

...   ...   ...

LUCY. [After a few samples of Vitameatavegmin.] Hello, friends, I'm your Vita-veeda-vigee-vat girl. Are you tired, rundown, listless? Well are you? Do you pop out at parties? Are you unpoopular? The answer to alllll your problems is in this li'l bottle: Vitameatavegamin. [Looks at bottle.] Vitameatavegamin contains vitamins, meat, megetables, and vinerals. Ah, with Vitameatavegamin you can spoon your way to health. All you have to do is take a big tablespoon full after every meal. [Lucy takes a swig from the bottle.] It’s so tasty too! Tastes just like candy! Honest!! Ha Ha Ha! So why don't you join the thousands of happy, peppy people and get a great big bottle of ... Vita-meedy-mega-mee-nee-minie-moe-a-min...

Miss Ball played her every role for real ... and more often than not with believability. Yes, in her later years there were a couple of flops, but for millions of people of my generation and many others – before and after mine – she will always be the irrepressible and ever-so-lovable Lucy.

Lucille Ball had flair and a superb sense of timing. She believed that life was worth living, and she overcame enormous obstacles to achieve both personal and professional success. She also gave of herself tirelessly to others. I cannot imagine what my life would have been like had I not become a Lucy addict. I know it would not have been as good ... or as happy. Yes, I love Lucy ... I love Lucy ... and millions do, too!

Happy Birthday, Miss Ball, wherever you are ... which is everywhere!


NOTE. For those who are interested, I have compiled a book entitled Who's Who in I Love Lucy. The book can be read online on SlideShare.

Google TV Homepage Lucille Ball 100th Birthday

Grateful Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments are made, and sincere gratitude is expressed, to the various rights
holders in respect of all copyright material and trademarks. All rights reserved.
I LOVE LUCY and related marks are trademarks of CBS Broadcasting Inc.
I Love Lucy is owned by CBS Paramount Television.
Video clips (courtesy CBS, TCM and Google) are for entertainment and nonprofit purposes only.

Images of Lucille Ball are licensed by Desilu, too, LLC. Licensing by Unforgettable Licensing.

“Lucy Does a TV Commercial” was written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll Jr.

RELATED POSTS

ARE YOU A DREAM GIRL?

LUCILLE BALL ON MINDFULNESS

ARE YOU A DREAM GIRL?

Elmer Rice, a graduate of New York Law School, wrote a number of award-winning plays. One of them ran 16 years on Broadway. It was Dream Girl.

Rice apparently wrote the play for his second wife, actress Betty Field, who played the lead in the Broadway production. My favourite actress Lucille Ball played the title role (Georgina Allerton) in a 22-week cross-country US tour of the play in 1947-48. By all reports Lucy was wonderful in the role [see pictures opposite and below] -- a real tour de force and her best stage work -- and she garnered praise from playwright Rice himself who wrote in his 1963 autobiography Minority Report:

"I have seen other productions of this play, but the only actress whose performance really delighted me was Lucille Ball. She lacked … tender wistfulness, but her vivid personality and expert timing kept the play bright and alive."

Betty Hutton starred, less successfully, in the film version of the play. Here is a brief clip from that film:

You can watch the entire film here

The role of Georgina ("Georgie") Allerton has been described as "one of the most demanding roles ever written ... [with] innumerable costume changes, six-hundred cues, and there are only sixty seconds in each act when the character is not on stage" (The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre 1900-1975). It is, according to one reviewer, "a part that pales Hamlet's into polite insignificance".

Twenty-two year-old debutante Georgie is the owner of a small unsuccessful bookstore. She also writes unpublishable novels. She has an overactive imagination and regularly escapes reality by means of her romantic daydreams about three men in her life, which are acted out on stage in typically Expressionist style ... a wonderful way of getting into the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters! It's mindfulness on stage!

The play's time span covers a single day of Georgie's life, during which several successive extravagant and often comic daydreams are portrayed. In the view of the authors of the Encyclopedia of American Drama, "the play's chief attribute [is] the seamless integration of Georgina's dream life and reality".

Georgie, who is "as worldly as Alice in Wonderland", lives in Cloud-Cuckoo-Land. Like many people these days, who have been infected with the germ of postmodernism, she believes that “[i]f a dream is a real to you, why isn’t it as real as something you do?” The retort comes from the male lead, book reviewer Clark Redfield:

“Because dreaming is easy and life is hard. Because when you dream, you make your own rules, but when you try to do something, the rules are made for you by the limitations of your own nature and the shape of the world you live in. Because no matter how much you win in your dreams, your gains are illusory, and you always come away empty-handed. But in life, whether you win or lose, you’ve always got something to show for it – even if it’s only a scar or a painful memory.”

Clark urges Georgina to stop hiding from reality. The play ends when, at three-thirty in the morning, Georgina telephones her parents to tell them that she and Clark have married. Hopefully, her days of being a "dream girl" are behind her.

Mindfulness is anything but daydreaming. Being experiential and empirically-based, mindfulness involves facing up to, and living in, the reality of the everyday present moment. As such, it is a self-liberating experience ... a way to be free. Mindfulness is living in the mind’s natural state ... boundless ... spaceless. However, you remain firmly grounded at all times, with your awareness taking note of what’s going on, both in and outside of your mind. With mindfulness there is no non-purposeful thinking ... and no auto-pilot.

Don’t be a “dream girl”. Life is hard. In the words of Clark Redfield, “If you can make a dream come to life, grab hold of it. But if it dies on you, roll up your sleeves and give it a decent burial, instead of trying to haul the corpse around with you.”


NOTE. For those who are interested in the life and work of Lucille Ball, I have compiled a book entitled Who's Who in I Love Lucy. The book can be read online on SlideShare.

Images of Lucille Ball are licensed by Desilu, too, LLC.
Licensing by Unforgettable Licensing.
All Rights Reserved.

RELATED POSTS

LUCILLE BALL AND THE ART OF BEING MINDFULLY BRILLIANT

LUCILLE BALL ON MINDFULNESS

ERNEST HEMINGWAY AND THE ART OF MINDFUL LIVING

DYLAN THOMAS AND THE ART OF LITERARY MINDFULNESS

JAMES JOYCE: THE MASTER OF LITERARY MINDFULNESS

MINDFULNESS ON THE ROAD … WITH A BEAT

MINDFULNESS ACCORDING TO WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

HOW YOU CAN USE MINDFULNESS TO MEMORISE A SPEECH, POEM OR PLAY