Brain puzzlers

Sharon asked for a piece of paper and a felt tip pen. She said that she had a “quandary” about the letter S.

She drew, first, two S letters but reversed. Then she drew two more S letters this time the correct way around. It should be pointed out that Sharon can write as normal with her right hand. However, the S question had been puzzling her.

“It´s been in my mind for weeks,” she said. “I write the S in a picture in my mind to the same formula. But they come out opposite. So, I was wondering if they would look like S if I wrote them on paper or if I was just imagining them in my mind as S. The formula is the same for both – back to front and back round, and round to the back and round to the front again. But they were opposite. So, I wanted to write them so I could see. It´s been bothering me for weeks. They just look the same to me, except for the bottom part.”

Sharon´s S letters are seen above.

At college in Tunbridge Wells many years ago she learned Pitman´s shorthand. She had also been thinking about how to write her name using the system´s phonetic rules, which ignore spellings and record sounds.

“So I wrote “sh”, then a down “r” instead of an up “r” and then the “n” flicks round the end of the “r” instead of the normal “n.” It´s a half circle. With an “o” on it for “ron.”

See the other picture.

Strokes, of course affect the brain. Sharon had a hemorrhagic stroke, where a major blood vessel burst. The other type of stroke is where a vessel becomes blocked.

Areas of the brain are damaged or destroyed by strokes but, it appears, that the brain has the capability of finding new ways of doing things. Other undamaged areas are used and new “wiring” laid down. That is why recovery is possible. To impress your posh pals you must always refer to this as “neuroplasticity.”

But, there are many odd features, and Sharon´s mysterious S is one of them. “I would love to hear from anyone with any views on my quandary,” says Sharon.

***
©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Jasmine the fragrant medicine

Fragrant jasmine has healing properties, according to 17th century herbalist Nicholas Culpepper.

Sharon loves the smell of jasmine and there are large areas of it along the fences of her huerta, or garden. As she does her walking practice each day she knows she is reaching the turnaround point when she smells the jasmine in a neighbour´s garden. With her sight problems, which are long standing and nothing to do with her stroke, she loves fragrances. Her favourite oil for the burner in near to her chair in the lounge is jasmine.

Culpepper is not alone in recognizing the healing talents of jasmine or, Jessamine as he calls it.

“Jessamine is a warm, cordial plant, government by Jupiter in the sign Cancer. The flowers only are used. It warms the womb, and heals schirrithi therin, and facilitates the birth; it is useful for cough, difficulty of breathing, &c. The oil made by infusion of flowers, is used for perfumes. It disperses crude humours, and is good for cold and catarrhous constitutions, but not for the hot. The oil is good also for hard and contracted limbs, it opens, warms, and softens the nerves and tendons, if used as a liniment to the parts, or taken in drink, or clysters. It removes diseases of the uterus, and is of service in pituitous colics. A poultice of the leaves, boiled in wine, dissolves cold swelling and hard tumours.”

The reference to beneficial effects on “hard and contracted limbs” is of obvious interest in view of the problems experienced by people recovering from strokes. The search is now on for some cream with jasmine for Sharon to rub on her left hand, which can curl up painfully. If anyone hears where we can find any please let us know.

Common jasmine, such as that in Sharon´s huerta, is native to Iran but there are more than 300 tropical and subtropical species. The genus is part of the olive family.

***

©Phillip Bruce 2009

Words for the Oxford English Dictionary

Apparently a million words are now featured in the English language with new ones being invented every day.

The Oxford English Dictionary is, of course, the bible of English and it lists about 300,000 words.

The effects on speech of strokes are well known and documented. Many unfortunate stroke victims either lose their speech or encounter great difficulties. It is a blessing that Sharon has not been affected in this department and “jabbers on,” as she says.

However, a curious development since her stroke is that her vocabulary has actually expanded. “I was dreaming,” she said recently. “However, it was nothing untoward.” Now “untoward” is a word she would never have used in the past. She also uses long words, like “prestigiously” which, again, were not before in her everyday conversation.

Sharon has even spontaneously invented completely new words.

When the fingers in her left hand started to show some movement recently, she described the sensation as a “twingle.” This is probably a mix of twitch and tingle.

Looking at the picture of Bruno the Labrador puppy, she said he would be doing lots of “sniggling.” This is probably a mix of snuffling and wiggling, which is what puppies do.

Perhaps these new should be forwarded to the august editors of the OED.

***

©Phillip Bruce