Mind Mapping, Cognitive Impairment, and Dementia (Huba's Bolero)

Confronted with untreatable, early onset neurodegenerative disease and dementia, psychologist Dr. George Huba, responded by trying and evaluating many cognitive-behavioral interventions that might help to slow the progression of symptoms or at least improve quality of life. He found that the key for him was a method of visual thinking — mind mapping — that helped organize his daily life and memories and to plan for the future. Huba is very clear that the mind mapping methods are not proven using standard experimental designs. He is also quite clear cognitive-behavioral methods cannot cure neurodegeneration nor do they necessarily slow its progression. He suggests that such inexpensive methods may help provide clarity in planning, memory, and decision making at any point in the early and mid stages of neurodegenerative disease and dementia and consequentially improve the quality of life for the person living with neurodegenerative disease. Dr. Huba then presents hundred of his mind maps to support this position. Huba concludes that for neurodegenerative diseases with no effective treatment (virtually all of them), the inexpensive methods he used may prove quite helpful to many.