Chess and the Medical Profession

[Fred Henderson]

I just counted the number of angels on the head of a pin. It was a big fat zero.....

I had to check your recent posts. Thank you for your support.

[Fred Henderson]

excuses already I see, ill send you a 3 day challenge.

The game can be followed here...

https://www.chess.com/game/daily/475189377


watch me blunder

[Fred Henderson]

The game can be followed here...

https://www.chess.com/game/daily/475189377


watch me blunder

bbbuuummmppp

[Fred Henderson]

I just counted the number of angels on the head of a pin. It was a big fat zero.....

hmmm, I decided to look it up...

How Many Angels Can Dance on the Head of a Pin – Meaning, Origin and Usage - English-Grammar-Lessons.com

This is a new one for me. Either we are engaging in unimportant debate, or the question has no answer.

The only question I asked was "Why should chess get preferential treatment? (over crosswords or learning a new language). No one can provide a good reason, and therefore my question is answered. And yes, for that reason the debate becomes unimportant (to me).

Thanks for your help.

[Fred Harvey]

hmmm, I decided to look it up...

How Many Angels Can Dance on the Head of a Pin – Meaning, Origin and Usage - English-Grammar-Lessons.com

This is a new one for me. Either we are engaging in unimportant debate, or the question has no answer.

The only question I asked was "Why should chess get preferential treatment? (over crosswords or learning a new language). No one can provide a good reason, and therefore my question is answered. And yes, for that reason the debate becomes unimportant (to me).

Thanks for your help.

Glad to be of help....I think!

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

The only question I asked was "Why should chess get preferential treatment? (over crosswords or learning a new language). No one can provide a good reason, and therefore my question is answered. And yes, for that reason the debate becomes unimportant (to me)..

If you don't see any difference between those activities, what we could discuss :)

Language - Canadians (maybe too wide, let's say just Ontarians, or even just GTAs) barely learn the second official language, and you want to throw foreign on top. Good luck with that.

Crosswords - a good pastime spending activity, though lacking the sporting aspect. Solving chess problems would be on a similar level. There are championships too, and well as composing competitions. Do you know any champion? :) Me neither :)


Maybe we got lucky but our children teachers had chess "classes" as part of their curriculum, and chess clubs at school.

[Fred Henderson]

Glad to be of help....I think!

LOL. I was thinking much that same. I think. I had to morph the definition a bit to suit my purposes.

[Fred Henderson]

If you don't see any difference between those activities, what we could discuss :)

<snip>

That was definitely not my point. Sure the activities are different. What has yet to be proven is whether the benefit each gives to brainpower is different. Where is it shown (or proven!) that chess is more beneficial to brain health than the other activities? I have already made posts quoting experts in the field. All of the games/activities mentioned boost brainpower. See my point now?

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

All of the games/activities mentioned boost brainpower. See my point now?

It would wind down how much kids/adults would participate in the activity, how seriously, and what for. Also it depends on kids what they want to do. Some would play soccer all day long, other would learn the Queen's gambit instead.

Also goes to who would provide those activities. While I run a chess club volunteerly, I'm not interested in helping with the sudoku club, though I solve them in spare time.

Chess has a good aura in its tradition and spread.

[Peter McKillop]

That was definitely not my point. Sure the activities are different. What has yet to be proven is whether the benefit each gives to brainpower is different. Where is it shown (or proven!) that chess is more beneficial to brain health than the other activities? I have already made posts quoting experts in the field. All of the games/activities mentioned boost brainpower. See my point now?

I haven't looked through any of this in detail but here's another link which may lead you to something useful (links leading to links etc.).
https://chessineducation.org/research-4/

[Fred Henderson]

I haven't looked through any of this in detail but here's another link which may lead you to something useful (links leading to links etc.).
https://chessineducation.org/research-4/

on the home page we have...

"The website is a part of the CIE Initiative operated by Chess in Schools, a non-profit US [501(c)(3)] corporation, in collaboration with the CIE Coalition, a group of several commercial and other non-profit organizations with a shared interest in advancing CIE."

under the heading "Compendiums and Recent Papers" we have ...

"Rather than maintain an exhaustive list of research papers, this site provides a few links what we consider to be particularly noteworthy recent Chess in Education studies as well as compendiums of CIE research on other websites."

LOL. These guys sound like a "News Re-broadcasting" service or something. ;)

I took a quick look at the papers presented, they were all ftom ivory tower journals of education. Small control groups. They do not address the issue I am raising, which is "Is chess better at "boosting brainpower" than any of the other activities.

Thanks for that one. :)

[Fred Henderson]

Here's a link to paper titled "Chess Practice as a preventative factor in Dementia, published 2019 by the \National Institure of Health (National Library of Medicine).


I give you the conclusion and the link.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6617066/

5. Conclusions


Despite all the benefits listed throughout this review, and despite the data existing against their positive effects being scarce, the evidence is currently not strong enough to infer a direct causal relationship or recommend one leisure activity over the other [36]. Thus, chess could be considered a protective factor against dementia and cognitive decline in older people, particularly due to the enhancement of cognitive reserve. However, skill-based activities rather than those mainly depending on general intelligence seem to be more convenient, since its implementation appears to be not as challenging in a population with special characteristics such patients with dementia, where skill learning is still a possibility [12].

Given this perspective and current evidence, there is no doubt that more controlled trials are needed to assess the protective effect of cognitive activities on the risk of dementia [37], though even more for diagnosed populations. These trials must be run over significantly long times and assess different variables, to get a view of the effect of these factors in protecting dementia in the long run. This effortful activity is recommended due to the incapacity of detecting the disease in the early stages. Even the most recent evidence suggests that the disease manifests around 18 years after the onset [38]. This may be the way to provide mental activities and exercising with their proper part in AD and dementia approach and to set the starting point for their systematic implementation in prevention and treatment.

Considering our results, the practice of chess is a protective strategy in the development of dementia from a preventive perspective, and even though the evidence is weak to demonstrate its role as a protective factor, other evidence indirectly related to chess and based on its cognitive stimulating functions suggest it may work as a protective factor.