Brain fog is a common symptom experienced by many with Long COVID.
I’m no exception. My COVID illness began in March 2020. I have little recollection of events during those first two years. Fortunately, in the recent past, I seem to form memories, solve problems and retain information pretty much as I did before COVID.
Overall, I attribute my recovery to systematically following the steps that I have laid out in previous posts. However, an article in the New York Times reminded me that there’s more that’s easily available for building cognitive skills. It involves using our hands. (Working With Your Hands Is Good for Your Brain NYTimes, 03-30-2024)
“Activities like writing, gardening and knitting can improve your cognition and mood” while typing and other repetitive device and computer-oriented hand movements do not produce the same benefits. It’s the fine motor skills involving control of the muscles of the hands and fingers that result in stimulation for the brain.
Give it a try. Pick up a pen or pencil. Any paper will do. Now print your name, then write it out in cursive. Now, try it with your left (non-dominant) hand.
Freely available exercises for stimulating the brain can be found on YouTube by searching the site for “memory hand exercise”. Short on time? Try this hand-memory training video that’s fast moving and full of ideas. Brain Gym offers 7 easy to follow exercises. Bright side goes into more detail about the benefits to the brain and includes 9 exercises. There are many others.
If you’re looking for more resources, Long COVID: Recovery from dementia like symptoms addresses the topic from a broader perspective. Because stress takes a heavy toll on memory and other cognitive and physiological functions, have a look at the post on Stress and Long COVID.
I have no connection to any of the above YouTube sites. However, I have used them and similar videos for myself and with clients. If you are aware of a freely available resource, please leave a comment with information on where to find it.
Comments, likes, and free or paid subscriptions are always appreciated.
I still take handwritten notes of things I'm studying; I have notebooks everywhere and file folders as well. I was encouraged to take handwritten notes by one of my instructors several years ago as it is known to help with memory retention. I will add that I am not a big fan of the new crayons and coloring books, the smoothness of the wax and paper does not feel the same as what I remember from childhood about the texture of coloring.
Through my school, college, university years (PhD in organic chemistry in 1973), post doctoral years, decades in industrial R&D, visiting consultancies to industries between 2009-2017, I have been a big, big practitioner of hand writing - thousands of pages of notes, draft reports, lab records….. yes, typing has taken over in recent years, like posting these comments. Four years ago, in full time retirement, as I began following this virus, Covid, treatment trials etc, I sensed something in the old drugs that would be useful, the chemical structure features. I have written down, from the net, over 700 chemical structures of drugs, 4 or 5 per page. Now I know why almost three quarters of the 2000 plus drugs in regular use could be additionally anti viral, in addition to whatever their primary indications. Looking at your own hand written notes is such a powerful memory and thought trigger. In the last two years, I have taken to writing ( comments) into some very good podcasts and presentations, like yours. Now, I write the equivalent of a page or two everyday. Not comfortable with the idea of archiving the writings in the memory of my I-pad, I am meticulously hand writing them down in note books after note books, over 300 pages of them in two years. Hand writing is such a great relaxation. I am only sorry that I don’t know how to bring sample pictures of those pages into these comments boxes. At 78, my hand writing is still as steady and rounded as it was 40-50:years ago. It is even a notch better now. But I am afraid that this is an interest that may not survive beyond our generation.