As we walked through the aviary at Busch Gardens I learned that macaws and parrots are special in regards to their intelligence, longevity and opposable claws. That reminded me of the theory that human intelligence and our opposable thumbs are intricately linked, coevolved. That in turn reinforced for me the importance of finger dexterity for brain health.
I first learned of this connection rom a study revealing that people who knit have less chance of developing dementia. I don’t know this to be proven, but meditative for brain health often include some form of finger dexterity. Of course, in this case it would be hard to tease out whether the meditation or the finger dexterity is providing the greater benefit. Likely it’s both.
As a guitarist I figure I’ve got the finger dexterity thing covered, but I’m not going to stop there. Along the vein of New Year Resolutions I am resolving to learn something new that requires finger dexterity each year. This is “double dipping,” considering the importance of learning new things for brain health as well. I’ve chosen origami for my first endeavor.
Cindy used to be great at quilting. Unfortunately, I did not have the foresight or knowledge at the time to encourage her to continue with this hobby. Indeed, there are limited options for Cindy at this point. I was hoping that doing simple jigsaw puzzles might help, she used to love doing them, but even a 24 piece puzzle appears to require too much focus now.
I have one more idea to try for Cindy. This year I also plan to get reacquainted with the piano as another “new” thing. I will ask Cindy to sit beside and plunk whatever key she wishes and I’ll try to improvise along. I’m open to other suggestions for finger dexterity pursuits, please leave a comment if you have one.
What about that very old fashioned game called “Pick Up Sticks”? We used to play it by the hour. It takes quite a bit of concentration to win with the picking up, but just the action of “picking up” and not worrying about the success of not moving another pick might help. Just an idea.
Yes, I think that’s a good idea, though perhaps with something thicker than the usual sticks. Thanks.