I will be honest when I say that I did not take Cognitive Psychology 256 by choice. Although I am a psychology major, it was a list of three courses I had to choose from, and the other two were full.  Towards the last three weeks of class I received some news that would end up making this course invaluable to me.

My grandmother will be 75 this year. She has always been what you would call a “brainy” person, and worked in the Emergency Room Department her whole life until she retired some years ago.  Since her retirement, my loving Nan (as I refer to her as) has undergone numerous operations. She was diagnosed with lung cancer about ten years ago, and had all of her one lung, and part of her remaining one removed. As you can probably guess this extremely limits her physical abilities. Walking up the household’s stairs is enough to leave her winded and wheezing. A few years ago she was also diagnosed with thyroid cancer. In addition I thought it should be noted that she has Parkinsons, diabetes, high blood pressure , and takes 24 pills a day in order to maintain. Despite all this, unless you knew all this about her, you probably couldn’t tell the difference between her lifestyle, and that of other people in their seventies.

My grandmother and I are very close. So close I consider her my own mom in replace of my birth mother who has been absent from my life.  Over the past year, it is safe to say that my grandmother’s memory certainly is not what it used to be. Not really her semantic memory for facts and knowledge, but her episodic memory for events, places, and people, is what seemed to be not all that it was. Up until the last few months, her memory absences didn’t really appear to be more than what you can sum up to getting old. This wasn’t her only issue, many she would mention to me in passing over the phone, even more she would keep secret.  About two months ago was when the constant pain started, all over her body she would tell me. She also was always just so tired, and constantly felt nauseous. On occasion she would just randomly fall, one or two times in front of people, many more times not, and not telling anyone about it either. A little less than a month ago she would tell me that she started getting constant headaches. Every day she would have these headaches. Now at this part of the story you are probably asking yourself, “why the heck doesn’t she take herself to the doctor”? The answer to your question is very simple, she did. In fact, my grandmother on any given month has at least five appointments  with a number of doctors to check on how she is doing with her numerous conditions. Her main doctor believed it was because she was put on a new Parkinson’s medication (her condition was getting worse so they were trying something new) that may have not been mixing to well with her other medications. They changed her medication again and it seemed to help with most of her symptoms, minus the headaches.

Two weeks ago I received a text message from my Aunt “call me as soon as possible Nan is in the hospital”. I called her as soon as I read the message. “Your grandmother fell this morning. She couldn’t get herself up. She was taken to the hospital and they found something in her brain.” The news over the next couple of days was an emotional rollercoaster ultimately ending with the coaster launching off the tracks into a brick wall.

My grandmother has Glioblastoma(s), the most aggressive form of brain cancer. Its cells consist of many kinds, making it hard to treat, and it grows faster than weeds in a garden.  From the day she fell it was like the cancer had finally won some war it was having inside her. Her memory tests seem to leave more doors opened than closed. Most glioblastomas tumors are found in the cerebral cortex, part of the forebrain, and that is where hers was/is. It actually stretches across her entire forehead. What masked some of her symptoms that perhaps would have made it more obvious she was having problems with her frontal lobe, was her Parkinson’s disease. It seemed like all three regions, the motor cortex, premotor cortex, and prefrontal cortex had all been affected. Her constant shaking was to blame for many of her movements and motor control. Her prefrontal cortex in my opinion is what was affected the most. Over the last year decision making had become extremely difficult. Which to be honest was extremely frustrating to me at the time. Simple decisions would become extremely complex despite there simple solutions, and her resolution to most lacked logic. Her memory loss is too complex for me to even try and take a guess at.  Some days she thinks its 1914 (a year of which she wasn’t born yet) or 1943 , and some days she gets it right. It’s also the same way with days, and months of the year. She seems to recognize faces of adults, but not children. In addition she seems think all children are named Gavin, one of her six great grandchildren’s names. She also will try talking to herself if she calls her house and her recorded voice picks up on the answering machine. She will also on occasion ask extremely odd questions that are not relevant to anything, or completely forgot why she is in the hospital. Or think she is in the hospital because she has a condition of which she doesn’t. Some days though, the good days, it’s as if she’s almost perfectly fine. Those are the rewarding days for all of us.

In hindsight, her symptoms make me feel foolish, and make me feel anger towards her doctors. Headaches, vomiting, nausea, weakness of the body, memory loss, drowsiness, all symptoms of a brain tumor. I guess they are symptoms to many other things as well.  I feel as if every day of my life has now become a ticking clock, counting the days that she lives, and praying for more. Perhaps that’s the selfish side of me in all this, and I can only hope she’s alive when you read this.

Lumosity.com has quickly become one the most popular brain strengthening websites since its launch in 2007. In fact, it’s pretty safe to assume that the average TV watcher has seen at least one commercial since its launch. Lumosity’s claim is that they use well-defined problems to strengthen user’s brain while making these problems seem more like games then something only Richard Feynman could solve.

I never ventured on to this site, although I have been meaning to for years. So one night this week, sparked by this week’s lesson on problem solving, I decided to give it a try. Although Lumosity’s site features areas to strengthen memory, attention, speed, flexibly, and problem solving, my concentration was on memory and problem solving games. Initially like most sites, in order to enjoy the benefits you have to create an account. After a few short questions you will be asked to take a ‘Fit Test’ to determine your starting point. I was amazed (although I guess I shouldn’t have been) at how many of these tests were based on the ‘demonstration’ from key researchers in my cognitive psychology textbook! For example problems similar to such as the Triangle Problem and Chain Problem presented by Metcalfe and Wiebe. I will note to anyone who hasn’t been on the site that after your ‘Fit Test’ in order to go any further you have to purchase a subscription. Although prices are extremely reasonable; as low as five dollars a month.

Lumonosity’s site is based on neuroscience (according to the founders), so it’s no surprise that many of the problems would be familiar to anyone who has taken a cognitive psychology course. The critics are on both sides of the ring when it comes to whether Lumonsity’s site will actually improve your brain strength.  Although several researchers have found increased activity in the pre-frontal cortex of the brain, followed by increased scores in visual and verbal declarative scores. There are also studies that suggest the site has helped patients with Alzheimers and Turner’s disease. Still many suggest that the sites clinical studies only represent a very small sample of the population. Which in all fairness is a very common statistical stretch made by many companies who are fully aware the average person is not highly educated in statistical analysis.

Luminosity probably won’t make you an expert in for example, physics. As demonstrated by Micheline Chi who tested physicists, and one time physics class students to 24 physics problems. An expert in the field simply has a different understanding and operating strategy than novices.  There certainly is no harm in testing your skills with Luminosity’s ‘brain challenging’ games. Although I will admit some of them become painfully addicting.

Learn more about Lumosity.com to include statistical data, facts, and more at Lumosity.com

Just when you thought incurring a traumatic brain injury wasn’t bad enough, new research suggests that people who have received a traumatic brain injury do not live as long as those who haven’t.

A new study conducted over 40 years, on over 200,000 patients that had received a traumatic brain injury(TBI) showed they were three times more likely to die young, than those who never had any type of head trauma. The startling young age of death was before age 56, and those previously diagnosed with mental disorders are even more at risk. What constitutes a traumatic brain injury in the study were patients who have had skull fractures, internal head bleeding, or those unconscious for more than an hour.

What then exactly do scientists believe cause this early death? Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a disease that is linked to premature death is likely to blame.  CTE is often associated with memory loss (those who drank more than two drinks a day had significant memory loss than those who didn’t), mood swings, depression, confusion, among other cognitive issues. The death of several NFL players in the recent years due to suicide has opened up a number of research platforms and public awareness of this ongoing issue.  Suicide in fact is the leading cause of early death among TBI patients in addition to assault and injury related to a car crash or fall. Many TBI patients suffer greatly from depression after their injury. The reason? Research has shown that traumatic brain injuries change how the brain’s neural network, or operating system work, making it harder for patients to use good judgment in decision making. Decisions that were easily processed before the injury, are now difficult and hard to completely process and understand. The part of the brain that allows people to fully assess risk taking also seems to be compromised in people who receive TBI.

Many doctors now believe that those who have received TBI should be treated as if their injury was the same as if they were diagnosed with a chronic disease. The same monitoring as if someone that has been diagnosed with cancer, diabetes, or a number of other chronic conditions.  Currently treatment revolves around short term survival of patients even though numerous other issues arise in surviving patients later in life such as Alzheimer’s disease. Those that received another traumatic brain injury in life are even worse off, often never becoming the same person mentally.

People who receive traumatic brain injury are three times more likely to die before age 56 compared to those who never have. Doctor’s owe it to their patients to provide lifelong support. As an increase rate of earlier death increases, especially to suicide, it only should come natural that additional post care also increases.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/traumatic-brain-injury-early-death-risk/

Jeopardy has been trademarked “America’s Favorite Quiz Show” since its debut in 1984(Jeopardy Official Site, 2009). It is a show notoriously known for its extremely difficult questions, and even more for its extremely intelligent contestants.  What then would happen if you paired the highest earning winner of jeopardy, with one of the world’s most expensive super computers? It becomes the ultimate showdown of man versus machine.

Meet Brad Rutter, the highest earner in Jeopardy history who won 74 games, beat over 148 contestants, and walked away with a whopping 3.25 million dollars (Jeopardy Official Site, 2009). Now meet Watson, named after IBM founder Thomas J. Watson. Watson is not a human being, but a 10 rack super computer that took 25 IBM scientists over four years to create.  In February 2011 Jeopardy took its challenge of the geniuses’ one step further, and challenged contestants Brad Rutter and Kenn Kennings (another high jeopardy winner) to challenge Watson in what would become a three day brain busting match. (Jeopardy Official Site, 2009).

Watson isn’t the first attempt for scientists to create a computer to outsmart the human mind. In fact the first was well over 50 years ago with Alan Turing. Turing wanted to study the relationship between human and machine intelligence. He created what is famously referred to as the ‘Turing Test’. In the Turing Test, a person known as the interrogator asks a series of questions and receives two answers to those questions back (Oppy 2011). One answer from a person, the other from a machine. The interrogator is not aware of whom the answers are coming from. In fact, the object of the test is for the investigator to determine what answers came from a person, and which ones came from a machine.

Although an impressive feat for Turing in the 1950s, by today’s standards the Turing Test would not only fail to impress, but would be quit a bore. Two types of questions could be asked of the Turing computer, empirical questions, and conceptual questions (Oppy 2011). Watson on the other hand can be asked questions of all nature, and even is able to create hypothesis generation (IBM Watson, 2013). The Turing computer confused interrogators roughly 30 percent of the time. Although the idea of Watson was not created for Turing like testing, the results of confusing the interrogator would probably be significantly higher. However Watson’s identification may be easier to spot simply from its ability to pull from evidence based knowledge.  As far as knowledge based information, Watson knows significantly more then the average human being.

Watson may be able to answer more complex questions than that of the Turing Test, however Watson will never surpass the complexity of the human brain. Studying the way humans and computers process information has lead researchers to uncover the similarities and differences in the human/computer relationship. Computers and humans however to this date still differ in active versus passive processing, and serial verses parallel processing. The creation of Watson is to benefit the human population, not surpass it. Watson has become an asset into the human/computer processing among high power businesses, and even medical researchers by suggesting possible diagnoses of diseases (IBM Watson, 2013).

Brad Rutter versus Watson was one of the most highly viewed Jeopardy episodes ever, and exposed millions to the amazing world of computer technology (Jeopardy Official Site, 2009). Similar to the Turing test by today’s standards, Watson will be sure to look insignificant in another fifty years. Presently though, Watson is viewed as victorious, and just one step closer to matching the human mind. As far as the ultimate showdown between man versus machine; the machine won.

IBM Watson. (2013). The science behind watson. Retrieved from http://www-03.ibm.com/innovation/us/watson/science-behind_watson.shtml

Jeopardy Offical Site. (2009, 08 23). Did you know. Retrieved from http://www.jeopardy.com/showguide/abouttheshow/showhistory/

Oppy, Graham and Dowe, David, “The Turing Test”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2011/entries/turing-test/>.