People can reduce their dementia risk by relying less on the internet, claims an expert. Taking regular afternoon naps can also increase the prospect of healthy ageing, according to his new book.
And he calls for bingo halls to be converted into “active” learning centres for older people to help reduce the threat of dementia. Leading academic Professor Mohamed Elmasry says simple daily habits such as daytime naps, memory ‘workouts’ and not reaching for a smartphone can improve the odds of staying healthy in later life.
His new book, iMind: Artificial and Real Intelligence, claims focus has shifted too far away from RI – natural, or real – intelligence in favour of artificial intelligence (AI). Prof Elmasry instead calls for people to nurture their own mind which, like smartphones, has ‘hardware’, ‘software’ and ‘apps’ but is “many times more powerful” – and will last much longer with the right care.
The Canada-based international expert in microchip design and AI, was inspired to write the book following the death of his brother-in-law, John Barry, from Alzheimer’s as well as others very close to him, including his mother, from other forms of dementia. One of his former students Mike Lazaridis founded the company in 1984 that created the iconic BlackBerry, the world’s first smartphone, released in 1999.
Although Prof Elmasry says that smart devices are “getting smarter all the time”, he argues in iMind that none comes close to “duplicating the capacity, storage, longevity, energy efficiency, or self-healing capabilities of the original human brain-mind.” He said: “The useful life expectancy for current smartphones is around 10 years, while a healthy brain-mind inside a healthy human body can live for 100 years or longer.
“Your brain-mind is the highest-value asset you have, or will ever have. Increase its potential and longevity by caring for it early in life, keeping it and your body healthy so it can continue to develop.
“Humans can intentionally develop and test their memories by playing ‘brain games,’ or performing daily brain exercises. You can’t exercise your smartphone’s memory to make it last longer or encourage it to perform at a higher level.”
Prof Elmasry shares an anecdote in the book about his grandchildren having to use Google on their smartphones to name Cuba’s capital – even though they’d just spent a week in the country with their parents. He says the story illustrates how young people have come to rely on AI smartphone apps instead of using their real intelligence (RI).
Prof Elmasry added: “A healthy memory goes hand-in-hand with real intelligence. Our memory simply can’t reach its full potential without RI.”
He argues in iMind that current or even planned AI cannot match the capabilities of the human brain-mind for “speed, accuracy, storage capacity” and other functions. Prof Elmasry wants policymakers to adopt a series of key reforms to promote healthy ageing, including converting bingo halls from seated entertainment venues into “active and stimulating” learning centres.
As well as napping to refresh our memories and other brain and body functions, he outlines a series of practical tips to boost brain power and enhance our real intelligence (RI). These include building up ‘associative’ memory – the brain’s ‘dictionary of meaning’ where it attaches new information to what it already knows.
He says people should try reading a book aloud, using all of their senses instead of “going on autopilot”.
Other techniques he suggests include integrating a day for true rest into the week, reviewing your lifestyle as early as your 20s or 30s, adopting a healthy diet, and eliminating or radically moderating alcohol consumption to reduce the risk of dementia.
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