Avoiding Dementia

                                               (image: youtube.com)

Hawoy mag-isip!

FullyBooked once displayed a sign that read: "The presence of bookstores proves that people are still thinking." The sign is gone now, perhaps removed for the subtle critique it posed to those who seldom visit.

What was intended to celebrate intellectual engagement might have highlighted an uncomfortable truth: it shows the fine line between inspiring people and making those who prefer other activities feel left out.

Currently, there is a significant challenge with reading among learners. Many struggle to progress to comprehension, hindering cognitive development. Also, parental encouragement of a love for reading is lacking, resulting in a diminished capacity for deeper intellectual engagement in children.

Adults are often captivated by the immediate entertainment offered by social media, frequently bypassing posts that promote deep thinking.

Social media provides immediate rewards such as likes, comments, and shares. This instant feedback is highly stimulating and reinforces continued use. A study by Alter (2017) discusses how digital platforms are designed to exploit our desire for instant gratification and dopamine-driven rewards, making them more appealing than the delayed gratification of reading a book.

The preference for social media over traditional reading among adults is driven by factors such as instant gratification, decreased attention spans, convenience, social connectivity, visual stimulation, perceived relevance, and lower cognitive effort.

Preferring low-effort activities often means engaging in tasks that do not challenge the brain or stimulate critical thinking. This can lead to decreased cognitive engagement and lower mental stimulation.

Over time, this can result in diminished cognitive skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and memory retention. A study by K. A. Erickson and colleagues (2010) found that mental stimulation and challenging cognitive activities are essential for maintaining cognitive health.

A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine (2019) by Stern et al. found that individuals who engage in activities that stimulate the brain, such as reading, problem-solving, and learning, have a lower risk of developing dementia.

The study emphasizes that cognitive reserve, built through mental stimulation, can protect against the onset of dementia.

If unattended and not given focus, the degeneration of the brain can be terrifying since you will even forget who you are.