Nineveh (also Ninua) – an “exceeding great city”, as it is called in the Book of Jonah, lay on the eastern bank of the Tigris in ancient Assyria, near the modern-day major city of Mosul, Iraq which lies across the river. Ophir – a generic name for a place of fantastic wealth, mentioned in the Christian Bible. Fans of H. Rider Haggard may remember it as the location of King Soloman’s mines.
My Mother who, thanks to dementia, can’t remember more than one minute of the immediate past, one day recounted this poem in its entirety for our pleasure. It is the product of a great mind, recalled by another now sadly broken one. Just those two things together would do the trick, but the poem is a cracker all by itself…
Quinqueremes of Niniveh, from distant Ophir,
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine
with a cargo of ivory, and apes, and peacocks
sandalwood and cedarwood and sweet white wine
Stately Spanish galleon, coming from the Isthmus
dipping through the tropics by the palm green shores
with a cargo of diamonds, emeralds and amethyst,
topazes and cinnamon and gold moiodores.
Dirty British coaster, with silt-caked smoke stack
Batting through the channel in the mad march days
With a cargo of Tyne coal, road rails, pig lead,
firewood, ironware and cheap tin trays.
We salute you Mr Masefield, Mum…
My previous post on mind games – computer games designed to improve brain functions such as memory – was a bit light on serious applications. Here is the antidote.
An article in (the excellent) New Scientist magazine (12 January 2008) has information about the use of mind games in the treatment of mental illness, especially schizophrenia. Research showing that mind exercise techniques can help the mind to cure itself, without drugs, is promising.
Commercial companies Cogmed (www.cogmed.com) and Posit Science (www.positscience.com) both contributed to the article. I am sure there are others, but these would be a good starting point to explore. ‘Caveat emptor’ as the Romans said (Buyer beware) – these are commercial sites. You can read the article on the New Scientist website (www.newscientist.com) but you pay for full online access.
patrick v
Can a cheerful digitised Japanese professor help you maintain and even improve your memory?
I’d like to think so of course, and I have my shiny little DS lite to show where my money is. Motivation came in the form of Prof K helping to lower my ‘brain age’ by about 14 years over the course of a few weeks with his gentle chiding and hot tips.
Can Nintendo’s electronic games – and others, in what must be a rapidly growing and competitive market given the active aging population worldwide - do more profound things for your mind?
There is a fair amount of mainstream research in the area of exercise for the brain, primarily to discover what factors throughout your life put you at greater or lower risk of developing the dreaded Alzheimer’s or dementia. Briefly, research suggests that while people from richer families, with good education, active mid- and later lifes seem to be less likely to develop Alzheimer’s, it is never too late to do something to improve your odds. Mental stimulation in later life can be just as effective in lowering your risk of developing these afflictions as these other life factors.
Research summary (mostly from British Medical Journal article, vol. 336): whatever your age and background, exercises to improve, say, your memory can be effective, but don’t count on a memory exercise to improve another brain function such as reasoning, for example. You would need to exercise reasoning separately. Research scientists, who are professionally cautious, say that in those (typically elderly people) whose brain is only just coping, that developing one brain function may be at the expense of other perhaps more critical functions.
It seems, however, that most physicians and scientists alike support a ‘use it or lose it’ approach.
I draw two layman’s conclusions from this:
1) it’s never too late to start exercising your brain functions, and such exercises could help to reduce your risk of developing brain problems as you get older; and
2) take a holistic approach – exercise as many different facets of your mind (and body) as you can for good measure.
Me, I’m going to stick with Prof K. I’m also going to record an album, learn to speak Spanish, perfect my paragliding, try to have one lunch date in my diary every week and do a sudoku every day.
And write a blog.
patrick v
