Self-care Practices to Decelerate Cognitive Decline

Image credit: Dancing couple (Francesco Coleman, 1877)

To slow down the loss of cognitive abilities, we must look to our overall health, make adequate lifestyle choices, and, most importantly, seek and follow professional advice from physicians to protect our brain from harm.

However, there are some simple activities we can do on our own to anticipate the incidence of brain impairment, to improve the current disposition and prognosis of our neuropsychological status, and to facilitate our recovery.

Stretching

It has been found that a stretching session of as little as 10 minutes has a positive effect on both cognitive performance and mood in adults (Sudo & Ando, 2019).

It also has been established that stretching can enhance proprioception by sending updated sensorial information to the brain about range of motion and integrity of muscle spindles, helping the central nervous system become more efficient with reflexes and flexibility (Bennion, 2023).

Dancing

Besides it simply being something fun to do, there are collateral benefits to dancing that make it a very useful brain self-care tool.

A fascinating meta-analysis of the effects of dancing on neural activity suggests that dancing ameliorates impairments in brain oscillations, and also enhances both intra- and inter-brain synchrony (Basso et al., 2021). Among other things, this means dancing improves our cognitive function as well as our capacity to be in tune with others, that is, to be socially effective, which in turn will facilitate access to another great neuroprotective factor: social interaction (Venna et al., 2014).

Crossword Puzzles

A team of specialists conducted a study involving older adults afflicted with mild cognitive impairment. They compared the efficacy of computerized cognitive games vs web-based crossword puzzles, and found that crossword puzzles were significantly better to improve the performance and cognitive skills of the participants (Devanand et al., 2022). Among the most interesting results, it looks like playing crossword puzzles might prevent decrease in hippocampal volume and cortical thickness, i.e., it slows down the shrinkage of brain mass associated with dementia-related syndromes.

References

Basso, J., Satyal, M. & Rugh, R. (2021). Dance on the Brain: Enhancing Intra- and Inter- Brain Synchrony. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 14(584312). https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2020.584312

Bennion, J. [Institute of Human Anatomy] (2023, February 11). How Stretching REALLY Works [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/zEOkI3xkF4U

Devanand, D., Goldberg, T., Qian, M., Rushia, S., Sneed, J., Andrews, H., Nino, I., Phillips, J., Pence, S., Linares, A., Hellegers, C., Michael, A., Kerner, N., Petrella, J. & Murali Doraiswamy, P. (2022). Computerized Games versus Crosswords Training in Mild Cognitive Impairment. NEJM Evidence, 1(12). doi/full/10.1056/EVIDoa2200121

Sudo, M. & Ando, S. (2019). Effects of Acute Stretching on Cognitive Function and Mood States of Physically Inactive Young Adults. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 127(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/0031512519888304

Venna, V., Xu, Y., Doran, S., Patrizz, A., & McCullough, L. (2014). Social interaction plays a critical role in neurogenesis and recovery after stroke. Translational Psychiatry, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1038%2Ftp.2013.128

3 e-Learning Tools for Foreign Language Classrooms

With the ever-growing advent of new technologies, all of them digital and operating at astonishing speed, the traditional, naturally paced, analog essence of human teachers might at times seem painstakingly slow to some of our students. This puts them at a disadvantage because they rarely feel motivated to remain engaged for long enough to reach the point of insight, that proverbial "aha!" moment which unlocks the worthwhile result of their studying efforts: understanding a topic well enough to then be able to extrapolate it and apply their comprehension to new situations, to solve new problems, or even to find solutions to old problems in new, more efficient ways.

Nevertheless, there are a few e-Learning tools we can use to help them acquire the taste for staying on task longer than what they have grown accustomed to due to their overuse of short-form entertainment on social media.

Here are three that are particularly useful in the foreign languages classroom:

Quizlet:

A revision tool that introduces students to flashcards and then allows them to work in teams to be the first ones to answer a quiz correctly from beginning to end. It also plays cute music that excites students and staves off lethargy.

One of the best features of this platform is the 'match' mode, which students can use to train their speed to associate words in their dominant language and the one they are learning.

An additional, collateral benefit of the tool is that once students have used it successfully for a while, it is easier to prompt them to create their own physical flashcards with paper or cardboard, and to have them study with them in a focused manner, which makes Quizlet a great, novel study medium that helps introduce older, time-tested ones.

Quizizz:

It has a lovely interface, wholesome educational memes, catchy music, and its quiz making functionalities are very well built. Among the innovative changes it introduces there is a letter-by-letter spelling item type, which is useful when creating formative vocabulary experiences.

A newer game mode that allows students to take quizzes in a non-confrontational way, called 'Mastery Peak', is helpful when kids get too anxious about competition, or when they get too frustrated due to the public nature of their results on other learning tools, i.e. when they never reach the podium. When playing 'Mastery Peak', students are relaxed, and the minigames included between stages assist teachers by prolonging the engagement of talented kids who might have breezed through the test, giving us a few minutes to check on those who are struggling and need a bit more time and support.

Another truly helpful feature is the ability to turn each game into a pdf quiz that can be easily printed to use in a more conventional way, whether because the internet is unstable that day or because exam season is coming and you need students to transition to pen and paper demonstrations of learning.

Kahoot:

An absolute favourite of students. Kahoot has many game modes and item types to choose from, and students benefit from this diversity of means to demonstrate their mastery. It also inserts funny, timely, and sometimes inspirational comments between questions, as the students are waiting for the 'verdict' of the question (i.e., for the game to tell them what the right answer was), and during these waiting moments, it is common to hear students using spontaneous metacognitive reasoning to think about their learning, even when just joking with each other about what the system has told them.

Something that Kahoot is brilliant at is being able to alternate between multiple choice, true or false, and word-order questions, all in the same assessment, which makes it ideal as a formative tool in the foreign languages classroom, as it allows the practice of many simultaneous skills in short periods of time, with this quick skill-switching being an important part of linguistic mastery that is hard to achieve with books and pre-rehearsed conversations.

It also gifts teachers with a vast amount of data around student performance per question, measuring response times to the millisecond, as well as providing both a comprehensive analysis of group accomplishment and a downloadable spreadsheet file for teachers to conduct a deeper scrutiny if they need to.

4 Juegos para Practicar el Inglés

Si usted tiene un nivel de inglés intermedio y quiere estimular y mantener un nivel de vocabulario adecuado, estas aplicaciones pueden ofrecerle un desafío interesante y divertido.

Knotwords:

Este juego combina las mecánicas de un crucigrama y un sudoku. Las palabras se deducen mediante pistas en los cuadrantes de una grilla irregular, además de contar con una ayuda visual adicional mediante un teclado, de modo semejante a Wordle, donde se resaltan las letras que pueden usarse en cada turno.

Está disponible en Android, Iphone, y también en Steam.

Alphabear:

Este es un juego sencillo que presenta baldosas con letras para armar palabras. Cada letra muestra el número de turnos o rondas que permanecerá activa antes de petrificarse. Es relajante y bonito.

Está disponible en Android y en Iphone.

Tiny Room Stories - Town Mystery:

Un juego de rompecabezas que presenta una estética ortogonal y sobria muy agradable. A medida que se explora cada ambiente, se pueden leer los nombres de los objetos y se leen también líneas de diálogo y pistas para resolver el misterio.

Está disponible para Android y tambien en Steam.

Quordle

Este juego utiliza las mismas mecánicas del Wordle, pero en lugar de pedir que se solucione una palabra en seis intentos, está diseñado para resolver cuatro palabras a la vez en nueve intentos. Es mucho más estimulante que el Wordle, porque además de refrescar la memoria para encontrar una palabra, permite ver el cruce de letras entre varias ideas distintas, lo cual puede ser positivo para desarrollar el pensamiento creativo.

Está disponible en el sitio web del diccionario Merriam-Webster, que es una institución casi equivalente a la RAE: https://www.merriam-webster.com/games/quordle/#/

Learning + Emotional Intelligence <= 3 Studies

Image credit: Harper's Young People (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889)Vol. XI No. 544: 377

The following three studies offer exciting insights about the interaction between learning outcomes and emotional intelligence, and they present them through quantitative instruments and solid statistics.

1. Correlation between EQ and Verbal IQ (Uçar & Zarfsaz, 2022):

This investigation had 120 Turkish university students take two instruments measuring their emotional quotient (Bar-On adapted questionnaire) and their verbal intelligence quotient (Gardner's multiple intelligences), and then checked for possible relations with a two-way ANOVA.

The results support the hypothesis that stronger performances on the verbal scale were correlated with higher emotional intelligence scores.

Hopefully, this means that by remediating reading proficiency we would be able to help learners achieve better and more mature coping skills.

2. Grit, Emotional Intelligence, and Language Learning (Resnik, Moskowitz & Panicacci, 2021):

This study applied had 481 European students of foreign language courses respond to a series of instruments to measure the learners' enjoyment, anxiety, grit, and emotional intelligence. Afterwards, they conducted correlation and regression analyses to determine the validity of their hypotheses.

The results support the theory that learners with higher emotional intelligence also experienced more enjoyment of learning and exhibited grittier attitudes towards study in general.

Could it be that by promoting better opportunities for learners to develop their emotional intelligence we can help them in turn develop more grit, and have overall better learning experiences?

3. Social Competence and EQ (Al-Jundi & Al-Taher, 2022):

Teachers of students with learning disabilities were assessed using the Bar-On questionnaire and a social competence scale. The study includes interesting details about the item composition of the instruments used and how they complement each other. They interpreted the data with Pearson coefficient and factor analyses.

The investigators conclude that the most efficient teachers for students with learning disabilities are those who have higher emotional quotients.

The implications could be that providing teachers with experiences that allow them to enhance their emotional intelligence will in turn make them better when accomodating the needs of students with learning difficulties.

References:

Al-Jundi, K., & Al-Taher, M. A. (2022). The relationship between social competence and emotional intelligence among teachers of resource rooms for learning disabilities in Amman governorate. European Journal of Psychology and Educational Research, 5(1), 53-62. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejper.5.1.53

Resnik, P., Moskowitz, S. & Panicacci, A. (2021). Language Learning in Crisis Mode: The Connection Between LX Grit, Trait Emotional Intelligence and Learner Emotions. Journal for the Psychology of Language Learning, 3(2), 99-117. https://doi.org/10.52598/jpll/3/2/7

Uçar, S. & Zarfsaz, E. (2022). The correlation between EQ and Verbal IQ: The case of Turkish EFL learners. Journal of Education and Special Education Technology, 8(1), 98-114. https://doi.org/10.18844/jeset.v8i1.8572