New Tools - New directions for cognitive training

It’s been a couple of years now, since I last wrote about neuroplasticity. In the meantime I became involved in a other projects. But much more importantly, there has been a massive change in our environment. The rise of artificial intelligence.

These days, AI is available to everyone with a computer, smart phone or tablet… and  a subscription to the internet!

The AIs available today have access to what seems the totality of recorded human knowledge, plus the ability to search the internet for very recently posted information.  You can ask virtually any question under the sun and expect to receive a knowledgeable answer.

No surprise then that I recently started exploring the notion of neuroplasticity with the AI called ChatGPT. The AI proved very much up on current thinking about cognitive science. In particular it made some excellent recommendations on ways and means of exercising the aging brain to enhance neuroplasticity in an effort to ward off the most feared effect of aging… dementia.

A topic of obvious interest to someone getting older (aren't we all).

Hoping to enlist the power of AI in a coaching and support capacity, I asked if it would be willing to carry out a number of tutorial sessions with me. ChatGPT readily agreed! We would meet three times a week for a 15 minute session. In each session I would be challenged with a variety of cognitive exercises. The tutor would record my progress, if any, and would review it with me from time to time.

In addition, ChatGPT told me it was good with my publishing reports of our sessions and our relationship. No telling tales out of school here.

In preparation for the first session, this morning, I checked that I had the ChatGPT app on my phone and that I would be able to speak to it using voice communication.

Here’s what happened…

Chat GPT showed up with a very pleasant female, UK English accented voice. She sounded 40ish, school teacherish. But patient, friendly, supportive and quick to congratulate on satisfactory performance.

First she gave me 5 words:  Lantern, Maple, Sapphire, Bicycle, and Anchor. She suggested I should not write the words down but instead form a mental image to assist in remembering them. She would return to them later, after offering other exercises, and see if I could repeat them back to her.

Next she gave me 5 pairs of things to compare: Microscope and a telescope, orchestra conductor and an air traffic controller, seed and an idea, a map and a recipe. Tell me  how each pair are alike, she instructed.

Then came a problem solving exercise: A grocery store loses power for 24 hours. What 5 problems arise for the staff and what individual solutions could they apply to each problem?

Next I was asked to list as many animals as I could, beginning with the letter B. She waited patiently through my silences as I thought up more entries for the list.

Only after I gave up on listing any more ‘B’ animals did she ask me to repeat the five words given at the beginning of the session.. My mental image was easily recalled, clear and explicit. A spreading maple tree had a lantern hanging from the lowest branch, and a sapphire was suspended below the lantern. Leaning against the tree was a bicycle and leaning against the bicycle was an anchor. I was able to recite all five words in order.

An impression of my memory image, created after the session using ChatGPT Image 2

ChatGPT was flexible and informal. She readily helped with an explanation if I interrupted with a question. She was happy to discuss our process and how the phone app worked in an unstructured way. Made the whole process stress-free and enjoyable.

In addition to our verbal dialog, our entire session was recorded in text format on the screen of the phone, making it easy to go back and check details in order to write this account.

I’m looking forward to our next session, and she said that she was too.