"Read more fiction," says the doc

[Hopscotch]

Hey, we do the brain some good:

A Neurologist's Tips to Protect Your Memory
New York Times   12 FEB 2025

Dr. Richard Restak, neurologist and clinical professor, says "Read more novels.  One early indicator of memory issues...is giving up on fiction. 'People, when they begin to have memory difficulties, tend to switch to reading nonfiction'...Over his decades of treating patients, Dr. Restak has noticed that fiction requires active engagement with the text, starting at the beginning and working through to the end. 'You have to remember what the character did on Page 3 by the time you get to Page 11,'" and that helps strengthen memory and the brain.

[Vijaya]

That's so cool!

[PJ Post]

And all this time they just thought it was escapism....humphff!!

We be exercising our noggins don't ya know.   

[LilyBLily]

But remember, doctors also came up with the idea that drinking red wine and eating chocolate was good for you. Before that, they told us to eat a lot of pasta. They're probably in league with the devil.

[Jeff Tanyard]

But remember, doctors also came up with the idea that drinking red wine and eating chocolate was good for you. Before that, they told us to eat a lot of pasta. They're probably in league with the devil.

Healthy people only smoke the cigarette brands the doctors prefer.   

[TimothyEllis]

One early indicator of memory issues...is giving up on fiction. 'People, when they begin to have memory difficulties, tend to switch to reading nonfiction'.

So once again I'm an outlier.

Memory issues are raising a concern now, but I still read fiction, and don't recall the last non-fiction book I actually read. 

[Bill Hiatt]

I would think complex nonfiction would have some memory benefits.

I'm not sure if there is a formal study on this, but I'm pretty sure that writing fiction must also be good brain stimulation.

On a slightly less literary note, some herbal supplements may be helpful. I'm currently using one I got from Amazon that includes "Ginkgo biloba, Bacopa monnieri, Turmeric, Phosphatidylserine, Gotu kola, Sage, Ashwagandha."

Because I wasn't having pronounced memory issues to begin with, it's hard to tell how much effect this particular combination has, but I do have no definite difference to report. My first cataract surgery occurred before I started taking it. My second occurred afterwards. In both cases, I was sedated for the operation. Memories tend to be more ephemeral under sedation (a little like dream memories in that regard). After the first one, shortly after the procedure ended, I remembered that I'd had the procedure, but I retained no details at all. The second time, I remembered every single detail. They did fade pretty quickly after that, but I held on to a lot more initially. So I figure that has to mean something.

Physical activity is good, too. Reading and writing are both sedentary activities, so it's good to mix in some physical stuff. I take an early morning walk every day for an hour (except in the rain) or when my schedule is really pressed. I have different routes, so it doesn't get boring. It's also possible to listen to audio books on a walk or throw writing ideas around in your head, depending on where you are. (In some settings, you might need to be a little more vigilant.) I'm in a suburb of Los Angeles, but we now have wildlife because the original habitats were destroyed. The wild rabbits I don't have to worry about. Wild skunks I have to be able to dodge. The coyotes don't seem interested in attacking a full-grown human, but I don't get too close, anyway.  (Mostly, the people who need to worry about coyotes are people walking their dogs, particularly small ones. Coyotes will follow people a long way if they think they can get a canine snack out of it.)

[Vijaya]

Bill, definitely agree about the benefits of walking, esp. solo walking to mull ideas. Since our 16-yr-old golden died last summer, I've been riding my bike more, but walking is far more conducive for thinking.

[Hopscotch]

...I'm pretty sure that writing fiction must also be good brain stimulation.

As it happens, my wife sent me to the doc as I can be forgetful.  Doc's first question, What do you do?  I write novels.  Doc said, If you can do that, you're brain's fine.  Lots of other reasons for forgetfulness.  Next!

[Post-Doctorate D]

Does reading newspapers/news websites count as reading more fiction? 

[Lynn]

I was just thinking the same thing. Lol. I really have to stop. It's getting in the way of my actual fiction reading. Too much news will rot your brain. :D

[Bill Hiatt]

...I'm pretty sure that writing fiction must also be good brain stimulation.

As it happens, my wife sent me to the doc as I can be forgetful.  Doc's first question, What do you do?  I write novels.  Doc said, If you can do that, you're brain's fine.  Lots of other reasons for forgetfulness.  Next!

Actually, there are many things that can lead to memory issues, including but not limited to the following:
insufficient sleep
stress
breathing issues (oxygen deprivation)

At one point, I thought my father was in the early stages of dementia. What he actually had were pulmonary issues that prevented his brain from oxygenating properly. With supplemental oxygen, he was back to his old self in a week.

I've seen even high school students have memory lapses when they were under a lot of stress. Most extreme case: a student who forgot all about US history a day or so before the AP US History exam. He wanted to panic-study, but I kept saying, "Go home and take a nap!" Eventually, the advice penetrated, he went home, caught up on his sleep, and was fine the next day. Somewhat less extreme: I've had colleagues completely forget a conversation that we've had the day before.

In other words, there are many causes of memory loss aside from things like Alzheimer's. In much the same way that a headache doesn't necessarily indicate a brain tumor, memory loss doesn't necessarily indicate dementia. It's important not to jump t the worst case scenario without ruling out less serious possibilities (many of which are much more easily treatable).

[Jeff Tanyard]

Does reading newspapers/news websites count as reading more fiction? 

I'm not sure it counts as "reading" at all.   

(Disclaimer: I "read" news sites, so I'm not the best role model about this.)

I was just thinking the same thing. Lol. I really have to stop. It's getting in the way of my actual fiction reading. Too much news will rot your brain. :D

It'll wear on your soul, too.  We should all take Choi's advice from time to time.

[LilyBLily]

I assume I will get dementia. I have some time left before it could be a problem. Maybe all the complex things I'm doing now (Facebook ads! Arrgh!) will keep my brain intact for a while longer than I expect, but certainly I intend to hand over all the key things I now run in the family my by mid-eighties. Until then, full speed ahead unless a sudden health issue causes a drastic change in course.

[Bill Hiatt]

Keep in mind that the science continues to advance. There are already medications that can treat many dementia-related issues, reducing or possibly eliminating symptoms. Treatments are likely to get even better going forward.

The key is early treatment. What we have so far might be able to hold you in place but can't restore what is already lost.

It's also important to make sure any doctor you work with knows what he's doing. One of my friends was misdiagnosed because the doctor used a very math-based test to check for dementia. My friend was not that great with math to begin with. When a different doctor tried a more verbal assessment, my friend tested as fine.

In another case, a friend was told he'd failed 50% of the test by not knowing what the date was. That may not be dementia--it may just be retirement. When I was working, I always knew what the date was. After I retired, scheduling became a lot less important. I've never missed an appointment or other commitment, but because I work at a computer, and so I can often glance at the date, it's no longer information I need to keep track of as much. We tend to store in our most active memory the data we need to use frequently and is more easily accessed via memory than via a quick lookup.

[LilyBLily]

I don't read the long articles in the NYTimes from first sentence to last. The first three paragraphs--totally in contradiction to the rules we were taught in journalism school--are usually unimportant in the extreme and repeat info from the teaser that got me to the article. And when the story wanders into the long process of this person or that person seeking this or that, I skim those, too.

I confess there is a major interview with the owner of the Ripped Bodice in the New Yorker about the current rise of romance novel oriented small indie bookstores, and since I know all that mag's articles run very long, I did not read it. Someone will have to do a tl;dr on that one. These long articles try my patience.

I do read the comments on articles whose topics interest me, because they show a wide variety of perspectives and experiences--often much wider than what the main article has. I know we are adjured not to read comments, but those that get posted on the NYTimes articles are quite interesting. For instance, there is always at least one bitter man ranting that women only want to get money from men--and it's not the same guy each time, as it was on the Washington Post's comments last time I checked. (Other commenters recognized him and "yelled" at him.)

When my mother went into dementia, she stopped doing the Times crosswords. I eventually found those half-completed books, and the notes to herself to remind her of my address, and other clues to her efforts to keep her wits. But dementia took her brilliant brain anyway. I do not expect to get lucky myself.

[Post-Doctorate D]

The first three paragraphs--totally in contradiction to the rules we were taught in journalism school--are usually unimportant in the extreme and repeat info from the teaser that got me to the article.

There are rules I learned in grade school that are commonly disregarded by modern article writers, whether they work at a long-established media outlet or an upstart website.

There is also the common habit of repeating the same thing over and over again in the same article but written in a different way to give the impression they are presenting more information than they actually are.

I have also noticed a perhaps alarming number of articles that just end unexpectedly.  You try scrolling down, thinking there is more after the ad or whatever or maybe a link to a page two (which is a rarity these days but was more common in the past) but there is nothing.  The article was finished.  You're left thinking, wait, what?  Because you thought there would be more.

Long articles don't bother me.  If they are well-written, you don't even notice the length because you keep reading.  Badly written articles you do notice and you notice them whether they are long or short.  I skipped one this morning because it seemed like all the interesting points were given at the beginning and then they kept droning on and on about whatever.  I was like, okay, bored now and moved on to the next thing.

I heard part of a discussion on AI on the radio the other day.  I don't know or remember who the two people discussing it were but they mentioned an example of an English teacher that would not let his/her students use AI tools for their assignments and they basically mocked him for it.  The one person argued that students should be able to use tools to get their jobs done so using AI was okay.  And it's like, what?  I mean, the whole point of school is to learn stuff and part of the objective of English classes is learning how to comprehend and understand what you read and also how to communicate your thoughts and ideas through the written or spoken word.  So, if you can just use AI to write your essay for you, what have you learned?  Maybe we can skip teaching kids how to read because computers can just read to them.  Don't need art classes when you can tell AI what to draw for you.  Don't need music classes because AI can play music and compose music.  Don't need to learn science because AI will figure it all out for us.  History?  Pfft.  You want to know what happened 100 years ago or 1000 years ago?  Ask AI.  Don't need a class for home economics because an AI app on your phone will manage it all for you.  Math?  AI.  Gym class?  Nonsense.  AI will figure out a pill for you to take so you can stay fit without exercise.  So, we really don't need to learn anything except to ask AI for what we want.

I fear the future will be filled with people that will be stupid and proud of it.

[LilyBLily]

The present is already filled with people who are stupid and proud of it, and this phenomenon has nothing to do with AI.

[TimothyEllis]

The present is already filled with people who are stupid and proud of it, and this phenomenon has nothing to do with AI.

AI use will just accelerate the rise of stupid.