Structure
Just a reminder of the structure of progression in the Brain Fitness Program. Onwards and upwards from sounds to robust language: and in a social context (when we converse) that’s the meeting of minds! (or what feels like a mind).
We can think of language as composed of sounds of various complexities, its structural component (syntax) and its message, the meaning it conveys. Yet it feels like it is a complete unified whole when we talk to each another. We are not aware of these components when we use our first language. Acquisition of a second language in later life is a very different thing. Learning a second language as an adult is an amazing challenge. Just what the old brain needs, perhaps?
Rationale: strong clear models, time and time again
The rationale for the bottom-up progression of the BFP is given as “we need to listen, for example, to the phonemes time and time again for the brain to etch strong clear models of the detailed characteristics of each sound. Storing clearer models may enable the brain to hear better and more clearly, even in a noisy room.” The influence from Michael Merzenich’s cochlear implant work is evident here. He was on the team that invented that amazing piece of engineering. His study of brain plasticity led him to hook up with Paula Tallal, who studied language . She had developed computerised speech processing and together they invented the Fast Forword program for children with learning and other difficulties.
A Birthday Present?
I talked recently to a speech therapist in Australia who had just returned from a conference in the US on Fast Forword. She said she was a great fan of the program. There may well be overlap in the content of Fast Forword and the BFP. Importantly, the same receptive, cognitive/memory, and language-usage impacts of this training have been shown to be independent of age. So she also bought the BFP for her husband as a birthday present! I’m not sure how he responded. But he has done the program and she sees him more focused and alert.
We know that as people get older their ability to comprehend rapid speech goes down. The one person I can barely understand on television is Ricky Ponting, the Australian cricket captain. His speech is so fast that I fail to grasp much of what he says after a match. (LEAVE A COMMENT)“
