An expert has suggested that people can lower their risk of dementia by reducing their reliance on the internet and taking regular afternoon naps. In his new book, he also proposes transforming bingo halls into active learning centres for the elderly to help combat dementia.
Professor Mohamed Elmasry, a leading academic, believes that simple daily habits such as daytime napping, memory exercises, and avoiding the immediate use of smartphones can enhance the chances of maintaining good health in old age.
In his latest publication, iMind: Artificial and Real Intelligence, he argues that the focus has shifted too far from natural or real intelligence (RI) towards artificial intelligence (AI). Instead, Professor Elmasry encourages individuals to cultivate their own minds, which, like smartphones, possess ‘hardware’, ‘software’ and ‘apps’, but are “many times more powerful” and will endure much longer with proper care.
Inspired to write the book following the death of his brother-in-law, John Barry, from Alzheimer’s, as well as other close family members from different forms of dementia, Professor Elmasry is a Canada-based international expert in microchip design and AI. One of his former students, Mike Lazaridis, founded the company that launched the world’s first smartphone, the BlackBerry, in 1999.
Prof Elmasry, in his book iMind, argues that despite smart devices “getting smarter all the time”, none can match the “duplicating the capacity, storage, longevity, energy efficiency, or self-healing capabilities of the original human brain-mind.”, reports Birmingham Live.
He stated: “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.”
In his book, Prof Elmasry recounts an incident where his grandchildren had to use Google on their smartphones to recall the capital of Cuba, despite having spent a week there. He believes this story highlights how young people are increasingly relying on AI smartphone apps instead of utilising their real intelligence (RI).
Prof Elmasry concluded: “A healthy memory goes hand-in-hand with real intelligence. Our memory simply can’t reach its full potential without RI.”
In his book iMind, he contends that the current and even future AI cannot compete with the human brain in terms of “speed, accuracy, storage capacity” and other functions. Prof Elmasry is calling for a series of key reforms to encourage healthy ageing, including transforming bingo halls from sedentary entertainment venues into “active and stimulating” learning centres.
He also suggests taking naps to rejuvenate our memories and other brain and body functions, and provides a range of practical tips to enhance brain power and improve our real intelligence (RI). These include developing ‘associative’ memory the brain’s ‘dictionary of meaning’ where it connects new information to what it already knows.
He advises people to try reading a book aloud, using all their senses instead of just “going on autopilot”.
Among the other techniques he recommends are incorporating a day of genuine rest into the week, reassessing your lifestyle as early as your 20s or 30s, adopting a healthy diet, and either eliminating or significantly reducing alcohol consumption to lower the risk of dementia.