Posted 7-24-19
Sorry for the brief articles this week. I am completely booked with work and family, but this cuteness topic NEEDS to be investigated further. I started this little discussion yesterday in a piece about the big eyes in my mom’s wall decorations and how much she loved cute things. I want to lead you on some more self-study today and tomorrow and hope to write a more thorough piece Friday morning summarizing what I believe to be useful about cuteness relating to Dementia.
Catch this little video as an outstanding summary. Thanks goes to my son for reminding me of this one. 🙂
My hypothesis:
- Patients with dementia can remember the cuteness attributes so well because they are learned very early;
- …and this set of attributes is tied to anxiety in these patients in some way or another. Familiarity is critical and the unfamiliar is so scary that it seems like exaggerating the familiar may lessen anxiety since they no longer have to wonder as much whether there is a perceived threat.
- It makes me curious if over-stressing safety of everyday items is important. (Analogy) If they were a driver, they would love looking at a stoplight with a bigger layout and with a warning light that there was a light ahead that flashes just before it turns yellow. These make me stress less about getting caught mid-light.
Just a rabbit trail, I suppose, but it is interested to me. Heck, according to my VSauce video above, the part of the brain stimulated by cuteness (say, a super-cute baby or a fluffy bunny) is the same part stimulated by cocaine and meth. If the brain can be “hacked”, it might as well be for the good.
What think you?
Update: Good day for mom again. 🙂 The streak continues even despite the move. Unfortunately it is mainly because she is less aware.