The personable psychologist and grad student interviewed me first. This was partly to break the ice, and partly to see where my deficits might be. Current events (the psychologist was alarmed by something that I said that seemed overly simplistic, but the grad student assured him that I was just quoting a public figure), day of week, what I think my deficits are (can't think of the word that I want to say, and multi-tasking).
The grad student then gave me a couple of hours of tests. Draw copying another drawing (apparently the order you do it in is revealing). Remember a list of words - then come back to that task periodically as you're taking other tests. Judgments about images. Stroop (read the word for a color, not the different color that's printed there, a really fiendish task.) What's a word for...
The one task I really had trouble with was generating a list of words starting with a letter, but also being sure that it's not a variant of the word (such as sail/sailing/sailed). I got stuck on keeping track of all the rules, and could hardly generate any words. The was a multi-tasking (officially known as executive function) test.
I took a bathroom break, a snack break, and even a medication break. Then I went home for a few weeks while the psychologist scored the tests and wrote up the result.
Back at the psychologist's office, for the results: no surprise, multi-tasking/executive functions is tough for me (very common with PD). But memory was okay (I was able to think of the words that were asked for during testing). I'm doing really well, and have some real strengths (geometric figures). My memory - remembering that list of items - is quite good. I've got a little bit of cognitive impairment - not noticeable because of my cognitive strengths - but it's there.
So I've lost some of my cognitive abilities, so another thing to fight against.
Besides lots of different kinds of exercise, what have I done to cope?
I tried brain games, which are ultimately boring; in addition, since improvement is tied to speed and dexterity, I couldn't "improve" due to physical limitations, not cognitive ones; the research supporting brain games is questionable, anyway.
I read. Not as much as I used to, but still the daily paper, many blogs, and several books a week. I have less patience for poorly written material, and am less likely to push myself to finish - equal parts less attention and unwillingness to waste my time. Reading is supposed to challenge the brain, and I certainly use it for that - with fiction, with opinion, and with non-fiction.
I still teach, online only. I don't have to keep track of everything happening in the physical classroom, while also presenting the lesson and making sure that's effective; this became physically and mentally exhausting. Instead, I can focus on individual students, how to help them understand, how to help them develop new skills and overcome deficits. This is mentally challenging, but as I do this sitting down, it's not physically overwhelming any more.
Other things that challenge my brain are participating in online PD forums, helping moderate a Facebook PD group, and assisting in a research project evaluating whether or not PD researchers share their results.
I already eat a healthy diet, with at least 6 to 7 vegetables and fruits daily, eat mostly vegetable proteins, avoid processed food, and avoid simple carbohydrates. I take some B vitamins where I have deficits, and I've added curcumin - the nanoparticle version can cross the blood/brain barrier, and there's evidence in healthy people that this version of curcumin can improve cognition. Since I started taking it, I've had less trouble with the tip-of-the-tongue issue (what is that word?), so maybe it's helping.
Images from Pixabay.
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