A semiretired pediatrician living in a countryside in Japan will describe what he thinks of his hobbies, life and the events around himself.
9/29/2011
Let's stay younger with CW operation using a key
Sending CW with a paddle or any key is involved in intellectual centers of CNS and fine motor function. The fine tactile sensory function works as well when we touch the finger piece of the paddle at proper interval and pressure. Aging may have those functions deteriorated.
The following paper says passive sensory stimulation activates sensorimotor functions. They have done purely passive stimulations in the study, which is not thesame as keying movements. But I believe keying movements require fine discrimination of tactile sense that is comparable to these stimulations in a sense.
Old boys, don't complain of your clumsy fist but go on operating CW with a key. That will promise you to stay younger. I am telling this to myself everyday!
Department of Theoretical Biology, Institute for Neuroinformatics, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
Abstract
Sensorimotor functions decrease in old age. The well-documented loss of tactile acuity in elderly is accompanied by deterioration ofhaptic performance and fine manipulative movements. Physical training and exercise can maintain sensorimotor fitness into high age. However, regular schedules of training require discipline and physical fitness. We here present an alternative interventional paradigm to enhance tactile, haptic, and fine motor performance based on passive, sensory stimulation by means of tactile coactivation. This approach is based on patterned, synchronous tactile stimulation applied to the fingertips for 3 hours. The stimulation drives plastic reorganizational changes in somatosensory cortex that affect perception and behavior: We demonstrate that following 3 hours of coactivation tactile acuity as well as haptic object exploration and fine motor performance are improved for at least 96 hours. Because this kind of intervention does not require active participation or attention of the subjects, we anticipate that coactivation is a prime candidate for future therapeutic interventions in patients with impaired sensorimotor abilities. It can be assumed that the maintenance and restoration of sensorimotor functions can ensure and preserve independence of daily living. Further optimizing of the stimulation protocol can be assumed to strengthen both the range and durability of its efficacy.
Thanks for the comment. You are a precious case to prove the effectiveness of pounding brass for years. So keep up your activity there.
How about the prices of the items there? I hope the mess in the economy will be calmed down very soon. In inflation, the retirees suffer most. I am anxious about the sequelle of the economical mess in the world since I am going to retire soon.
I continue to pound the brass (= use a Morse key on ham radio) well into old age, and as you see, my typnig is near-prefect...
ReplyDeleteHi Mort,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. You are a precious case to prove the effectiveness of pounding brass for years. So keep up your activity there.
How about the prices of the items there? I hope the mess in the economy will be calmed down very soon. In inflation, the retirees suffer most. I am anxious about the sequelle of the economical mess in the world since I am going to retire soon.