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Welcome to the Healthy Brain Toolbox. I'm Dr. Ken Sharlin, neurologist, speaker, author, and host for this show. In each episode, I interview influential people whose work impacts how we live and how we think. My guests are leaders in the health and fitness industry, physicians, scientists. Here, you'll find conversations that break down barriers, expand your horizons, and give you the tools you need to protect your health and nourish your aging brain.

Meet Alban Maino

Dr. Ken Sharlin 0:32

Welcome to the Healthy Brain Toolbox. I'm your host, Dr. Ken Sharlin. Today's guest, Alban Maino. He is the founder of Memory Lane TV and the Memory Lane Foundation. I'm gonna give you that URL right away, It's memory-lane.tv. This is an innovative public good initiative dedicated to improving quality of life for people living with dementia and those who care for them. With a background in creative media and storytelling, Maino has translated the science of multi-sensory engagement into a practical, beautifully designed invention that restores calm, dignity, and meaningful connection, Memory Lane TV blends, music, familiar imagery, narrative, pacing, and century cues to reduce agitation. Increase engagement and create moments of joy and recognition. His work sits at the intersection of neuroscience, empathy, and design, demonstrating how thoughtful innovation can reshape the dementia experience for families, clinicians, and care communities worldwide. Alban Maino, thank you for being our guest.

Origin Story and Inspiratio

Dr. Alban Maino 1:51

Thank you, Dr. Sharlin for having me today. I'm delighted to be here.

Dr. Ken Sharlin 1:55

Tell us your story and what drew you into this work.

Dr. Alban Maino 1:59

Your listeners might detect a slight accent. I'm a French American filmmaker I have many halves. I'm also a diplomat and I've been in the field of health and integrative health for the past 30 years. But my background is in filmmaking and in storytelling, and I can tell you a little bit about my experience with dementia and Alzheimer's what drew me to this work, because I witnessed firsthand how disoriented and isolating dementia can be, not just for the person living with it, but for their entire support system. As I was caring for my grandmother, I'm sure a lot of your listeners know what I'm referring to when I'm talking about dementia and all the various forms of dementias like Alzheimer's, but also all the other and throughout the evolution of the pathology, all the symptoms that are associated to it.

From Filmmaking to Dementia Care

Dr. Ken Sharlin 2:49

Yeah. And then as you began in creative media, wondering what you saw in that world that made you think, this could change dementia care.

Building Memory Lane TV

Dr. Alban Maino 3:00

As a story teller, as a filmmaker, as a photographer. My work in documentary film production was essentially focused on travel, adventures and social impact. As a film producer we film a lot and a lot of it stay on our shelves, to produce an hour documentary. We probably have 40, 50 hours of rush, media behind it. before I even start working with dementia patients, I had the idea of slow TV of filming nature I started working with artists that were entrusting in that concept about 15 years ago. when my grandmother was diagnosed with early symptoms, I thought of what could help her. I already had taken a deep dive because I was part of a not-for-profit called the Institute of Life in Paris. in the'80s it was a big thing to have the noble prize that were discovering what was called Alzheimer's and tried to search about it. I was familiar with the power of music. Oliver Sachs done a lot of research in the'70s. I was very familiar with the power of storytelling. So I thought, oh, somebody must have associated one-on-one. And of course, use the power of media stimulation. And in this, I include music, but also everything to redirect attention, to make people dream, to make people feel better. So from that precept, I thought it's been done. And I searched for tools to help her daily life and make it a little bit more harmonious. And I couldn't find really evidence-based, good medical options. Health comes health concepts. From my earlier work, I began to explore alternative approaches to manage some of the symptoms. I learned about. The research into sensory stimulation as a means of addressing behavioral and psychological symptoms. And I knew as a filmmaker that I had a lot of the tools needed to craft content that could be incorporated. And what I was learning it was that making it highly personalized with music and sound and videos and photos could be very useful. Tried this with residents in their facilities, and that's essentially the genesis of that story 12 years ago. That has become fast forward 12 years later, a really piloted and evidence-based and researched multisensory approach to managed dementia. But that's the genesis and the concept of it, because we could immediately see the positive impact. The correlation between a psychotropic definition between anxiety and mood and even appetite stimulation. So we knew we had something from the get go. when she passed, I moved to Boston, one of the best place for any health project in the world. And we started to work with Dr. Benson, the famous inventor of the relaxation response who said, of course working, you're inducing the relaxation response to people. And music had been researched, but I wanted to put all this on steroids and said, okay, how do we really apply this? How do we apply this to all the symptoms from the beginning until the end of the pathology to help the people living with it, but also their care partners. There are so many symptoms associated with the lack of communication. The withdrawal, the like of appetite. Sometimes what we call the sundowning syndrome, a lot of anxiety that happens at the end of the day. How do we manage all those symptoms without using a pill? There is no pill, there is no cure for it at the moment. But how do we make sure that we can increase the quality of life of these people as we manage the symptoms? And I think that's what we've achieved with Memory Lane TV.

Beyond Medications Toolbox

Sensory Cues and Madeleines

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Dr. Ken Sharlin 8:44

One of the things that comes to mind as we look does the medication approach offer? What does the medication approach not offer? We can see mood changes, agitation, depression, but taking Prozac does not bring me joy. An antidepressant does not create joy in an individual. As you mentioned, that isolation, impacts the affected person with the diagnosis, but really the caregiver, there's a lot of work, in the caregiver burden.

Dr. Alban Maino 9:16

Yes.

Dr. Ken Sharlin 9:16

And what happens and how their lives get swallowed up in the caregiver role. And again, no pill that's going to fix that problem. No IV medication. Not even a supplement that's gonna fix that problem. And so we do have this solution. Now we're looking outside of the traditional pharmacological role not to dismiss its potential benefit, but in my world we talk about the toolbox. We're making the toolbox.

Music Memory and Alive Inside

Dr. Alban Maino 9:47

Yeah. That resonates on so many layers, everything that you're saying. The images that we used, in our videos are not random or decorative when I describe, what is referred to as the Netflix of dementia, it's video on demand. We also have 2 24/7 channels. We're using intentionally selected. And sequence based on cognitive and neurological research pieces of media For instance, we rely on visual prompts that evoke autobiographical memory such as landscape and domestic rituals and animals and music to engage the emotional center of the brain. He refers to madeleine de Proust in literature for about a hundred years. But de Proust is actually a sensory stimulation. He describes it in search of lost time in Swann's Way. The very first of his book, he spent his entire life reflecting about this subject. I encourage you to reread or read post if you don't know it, but he describes, when he walks into and he's in his mid thirties when he walks into the kitchen and he smells there's a smell that comes out of the oven, and it's the exact same smell The cookie that his grandmother was making in his childhood, in his thirties, and he describes it with very accurate details. Everything that comes back to his mind at that moment. Not only the aroma therapy and the sensory stimulation of the olfactory visualization, but everything that goes with it, The nose is the direct pathway to the brain, but the voice of his grandmother the feeling, the visual around the house. So this is what we call the madeleine de Proust. And what we've done this approach, which was validated in principles and reminiscence therapy, is what Memory Lane and TIA has been rooted on both in empirical findings and clinical feedbacks have said, there are many ways we can do this. We can reactivate some of the memories through music, through olfactory stimulation, through design, very specifically designed, but we can reactivate those madeleines and put them on sort steroids. When you do this, the care partner that is with his mother, who is, having memory loss and having problems to communicate. especially when you use plot free imagery, there is a visual way of communicating again. And the person that we had lost all of a sudden reappears the connection is through memory activation, through that sensory stimulation. And the link to all the behaviors and psychological effects that are experienced by people living with dementia are enhance and it creates something magical. Have you ever experienced that yourself?

Dr. Ken Sharlin 12:28

I'm always thinking about things and I've been very interested in technology in general. It's been a big focus, the podcast series. And we know that very focused energy-based technology, whether it's sound, whether it's light, whether it's electromagnetic fields or electricity, all have direct therapeutic effects, So this makes complete sense and it's really taking it to a higher level. But I'm also a music lover and my journey into music started at a very young age with my father's sister, they were more on the business side of the music. So, they wanted to make sure that I was, being raised with the right kind of music. The Beatles from a young age and eventually discovering jazz, which I think is where my passion probably lies. Although I love all kinds of music. But I think when I think of the music of John Coltrane, where that can take a person, just close your eyes, listen to the sound his music and the other musicians and his quartet and it takes you to an altogether. I also think of the people that I've seen where they have more advanced stages of dementia, maybe that one point in their life, they still are musicians, Get on the piano, start to play, and when they play, it opens up doors to memories, to words and things that if they aren't on the piano playing, they don't have access of their brain.

Science and Research Evidence

Dr. Alban Maino 13:52

It's fascinating and we call that, a musical Illumination. I don't know if you're familiar with alive Inside It's a documentary that won the Sundance Film Festival about 10 years ago, and it follows the work of a social worker, a friend of mine. Who founded Music and Memory? Dan Cohen But anyway, in that documentary there's a moment that became viral all over YouTube It's this older gentleman, in his eighties, in his wheelchair and aphasia not being communicated, not really being able to talk. And they would put personalized music in his here, and all of a sudden, all the words of that song started to come out of his mouth and he would start to become extremely active the whole documentary is about The power of music on memory, and how it can reawaken the music of your life. You will listen between 12 and 26. So if you're a Rolling Stone fans or Beatles fans in that era or Elvis Presley things will come out. And you can travel in time and space with this. But when I saw this, I was just like, we could do that on steroids. We could use music, media and visuals and aromatherapy and educate the care partners on touch and all those things that can constitute our life as humans, which are sensory stimulation to reactivate the person that's suffering from this. And as the television is really exacerbate the very symptoms that our content is designed to lessen. It's the opposite of television. It's really a therapeutic intervention. I like to think about it that way.

Dr. Ken Sharlin 15:29

What do we know? I'm just curious because clearly what you've created is with great intention. It's very deliberate. It's crafted with the science behind it. we talk a little bit more about that science? Maybe it's the limbic system, of the brain. What is the basis for what we're tapping into, I suppose.

Circadian Design and 24/7 Channel

Dr. Alban Maino 15:49

All the content that we produced is based on a extensive study of more than 50 years worth of published medical and scientific findings, exploring the relationship between sensory stimulation. Memory activation and the link to behaviors and psychological effects experienced by people living with dementia without getting too much into the nitty gritty of how, the tangles and the plaques, because we don't have any impact on it. this is not. in any shape or form a cure that will diminish the tangles of plaques in the brain. It's very different. But if you're familiar with brain mapping and how the map of the brain is activated based on different types of emotion of things you do, of things that you're listening to or that you see then you will understand that a lot of our behavior, is driven by our frontal cortex and many aspects of our brain is directly influenced by sensory stimulation. So we have a white paper that I would love to share with your audience And we've done for the past 10 years, some actual research with a lot of institutions in the US and in Canada. To demonstrate exactly how applying that science that's been researched to those new forms of technological approach can diminish the symptoms. It won't stop the evolution of the pathology in itself, but it will help to lessen some of the symptoms that can actually be worsened by some of the pharmaceuticals when someone has a panic attack, for example. Immediately we're isolate them and we're trying to feed them pharmaceuticals to soothe them. But the pharmaceutical takes one to three hours.

Dr. Ken Sharlin 17:36

Yeah.

Caregiver Burden and Hope

Biomarkers and Super Agers

Dr. Alban Maino 17:37

Integrative health approach to redirect attention to calm that anxiety or stress. Linked to various symptoms that we can actually tap into. So individual with dementia often becomes totally if we're gonna talk about science, we should talk about the natural rhythm of the day, what we call circadian rhythm, People with dementia, lose that sense. They don't know if it's night or day or they don't know if they're hungry or not. And so this as one of the problems that we try to solve, how do we manage or try to help with that symptoms? Because when you're living with that pathology you become dissociated from that natural rhythm, and that can lead to negative behavioral outcomes and the sundowning syndromes, so here is a good example of what we did. we decided to take a lot of the video. We've produced over 1500 hours of content. So we created a 24/7 channel that follows that end of the day. So we have films for the morning, film for lunch, film for engaging in the afternoon film that are adapted with a different arch, with a different types of rhythm music. For adapting to that sundowning syndrome and movies to go to sleep and to, validates like, oh yeah, it's the morning. Oh we use coffee, we see coffee, it's lunchtime. We are going to see beautiful food and people eating, and we're gonna leave on an arch where people feel like, oh, I wanna get off my chair. If it's the end of the day, We're gonna show imagery that correspond to that time of the day, more relaxing. this is a good example of how we can adapt integrative health approach. for your listeners, what we call an integrative health approach is mixing the approach from a western perspective of medicine to an eastern way of looking at things if I break my arm, I'm going to go to the hospitals and we'll get excellent care. But there are other ways meditating, meditation, application many ways in which we can also influence the stress that we have in our daily life. what we do is not only good for the people affected by dementia, Note before your next question. Again, there's a scary number. More than 60% of the direct care partner of the people living with dementia passed before their loved ones.

Dr. Ken Sharlin 19:59

It doesn't surprise me.

Dr. Alban Maino 20:01

because the emotional and logistical toll is so intense that it becomes really complicated. And when you're in your seventies and eighties and you have to take care of your wife or your husband. This becomes a huge burden So it is a national problem And as this population is aging and the boomers are coming, we're going to be facing a lot of that and we need to have solutions.

Dr. Ken Sharlin 20:25

We sure do. I was thinking, and we don't wanna give people the impression, like you said, that this is a treatment for Alzheimer's pathology. However, would it be possible to actually impact the underlying pathology, the disease, whether we're talking about amyloid and tau proteins or even the things that are driving their accumulation, in theory, I would argue when we boil down functional medicine and people we're talking about root cause disease, we talk about chronic inflammation, that chronic low grade inflammation driving these diseases whether it's Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, And things like, I'm sure you're quite aware, and I was relieved that our, surgeon general came out and said that loneliness a major. Risk factor for disease, and it's certainly well published at loneliness is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Alban Maino 21:19

Yes.

Dr. Ken Sharlin 21:19

I have a woman, I haven't seen for a while, that has Alzheimer's. When I first met her, she had been a widow for several years and she was not thriving, we started working with her and we worked on diet and, exercise and improving sleep. She started to date this gentleman and it got a little more serious and she had a little camper and they would go places and they liked to go to these country dances and dance and we watched her bloom as a human being and her cognitive scores went up. At that time I didn't have the means to easily track the brain pathology, but now it can be done with blood-based biomarkers.

Dr. Alban Maino 22:01

Absolutely.

Dr. Ken Sharlin 22:02

Only theoretically, but it is very sound science to think potentially that this would improve those blood-based biomarkers. Maybe not cure the disease, but maybe potentially have an impact on slowing pathology itself. I don't know if you've looked at that at all.

Dr. Alban Maino 22:20

We've tried, and actually we work with brand university long-term innovation Center. And we are still hoping to get an NIH grant in 2026 to do exactly that and really work on the neurological impact that, guided breathing rhythms, evidence-based sensory research and we mentioned music therapy, but you're right with those biomarkers. Could have a direct correlation with what we're trying to do. So this multisensory approach differentiates us a lot When I said, oh, we're the Netflix of dementia, I wanted to project that into your listeners, but as we're talking, I'm hoping that people will understand that everything that we're doing is active, intentional, designed to support cognitive health with a strong scientific and evidence-based background I never had the one, two, or$3 million to do the FDA approval, research that you're describing. That is my hope that we're going to get there very soon, and that the AI revolution Is going to accelerate that path and facilitate that work that we're doing.

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Dr. Ken Sharlin 25:30

One of the podcasts I've done, is with David Bronstein. He is the Chief Medical Officer at C2N Diagnostics. Their test was developed out of research done at Washington University in St. Louis. It's called the Privity AD two test is really the leading blood-based biomarker test and they will say that their test is not intended for tracking purposes. But off-label, I have used it for that and it is quite. Valuable for those of us who are interested in that kind of root cause, medicine to be able to see the changes in what they call a percent pTau-217, the 42 to 40 ratio, you could add in neurofilament, light chain, glof, fibrillary, acidic protein and understanding the roles of those specific biomarkers in the disease. What do those biomarkers. tell us what's going on and really learn, when we do this, we can see improvements in this even faster than we'd see improvements in this In other words, I see improvements in biological markers that tend to be more reflective of chronic inflammation. They get better first then very slowly, but surely, the degenerative biomarker, the pTau-217 starts to improve as there's less and less inflammation. So it's very interesting and very useful. It might be a nice connection for you.

Personalization and Training

Dr. Alban Maino 26:54

Thank you, I wanna stress that this finding and the 10 years of research we've done remains anecdotal But we do plan to study this more formally going. Forward because, when we lower utilization rates of psychotropic drugs during the pilot tests of Memory Lane TV, then we do have a direct impact on the evolution of the disease itself. There are side effects disappearing But it would be fascinating to get more research into.

Dr. Ken Sharlin 27:22

The other data that might be of value is the work done out of Northwestern University and the Super ages studies. And in particular what I'm thinking about is the observation. And for those who are not familiar with super ages, it's not a colloquial term, it is the scientific. Term for individuals who are 80 years or older, but whose brains biologically are more like those with ages 50 or 60. it's a fascinating longitudinal study. There's, 85 or so papers published in PubMed and looking at different dimensions of what makes a super age or why are they super ages? One of the features that's characteristic of the true super ager is that in a region of the brain, they have more of one specialized nerve cell or neuron called von economo neurons. And von economo neurons are the nerve cells that make us feel more connected. There are changes in gray matter, in white matter in thickness of the cingulate cortex. Interestingly, these individuals can have the amyloid and tau proteins accumulating in their brains and yet remain cognitively. Normal. So they're more resilient despite the presence of that pathology And yet the prevalence, for example, of the A POE four gene, present about 30% of the population and then. People of Caucasian European descent raises the risk of Alzheimer's, about threefold if only one copy is present and somewhere between 12 and 15 fold if two copies are present. And yet, if you are technically a super age, you can carry a POE four and it won't even affect you. It's fascinating. That probably the biggest determinant these VMO neurons. they've looked at diet and it turns out that there is not one consistent super age or diet, exercise, particularly in zone two. Lower impact. Exercise is important in the super age. But they also look at habits that you and I would never recommend. Like some of them are cigarette smokers, some of them probably drink too much, and yet their connection to other human beings. And perhaps if we look up, really dig into these VMO neurons about, how the music that is meaningful to us is really the music that defined a very specific segment of our lives, my wife and I go to concerts of course we hear, I went to see Paul McCartney and recently, and it was wonderful. And of course people are paying thousands of dollars to see the Eagles and the sphere in Las Vegas. But what are, these are the seventies bands, right? They were writing the music 50, 60 years ago, but people are. Packing the stadium and when we go, we always look around and say most of the people have gray hair, who are coming and listening and we say, this is the real music.

Dr. Alban Maino 30:27

Yes.

Dr. Ken Sharlin 30:27

But my point is that these are the things that connect us to the narrative of who we are.

Art, Nature, and Screen Time

Dr. Alban Maino 30:33

Fascinating and when you're mentioning that I think about the tailorization of the content for each viewer Very early on when I started to work on this, I knew the success would be based on what you're describing, how do we make that personal soul collection, different for every individual unique. And we do this by integrate, we're not gonna get into, although you did, and I'm glad you did, getting into the neurological aspect but the formation of a memory, long-term potentiation and how those memories are formed in our brain, by the way, we have a great Ted 3D 20 minute film about what we've been talking today that we should put into the links, integrating someone's own imagery and media and music to personalize that user's experience. Whether you have dementia or not, is something essential for our wellbeing. So you were mentioning the power of music. It's true with aroma therapy. It's true with touch, it's true with ambience and the air we breathe, things that we naturally understand, right? The air we breathe, it's also the sound that we are hearing, when you meditate, the silence. One of the things that we've worked early on with Memory Lane TV was to offer personalizations features. Helping to tailor content recommendation based on the individual's history, language, and preference. We go beyond, the music, but if you are from an Afro-American descent or Jewish heritage, or different types of faith, if you grew up with a golden retriever on the coast of Maine and if you like a very specific type of, if you are into Asian food, we're gonna push this content. Visually, with olfactory stimulation with sounds. I get the chills when I taste this because I know that everybody will resonate with this. The music is extraordinary powerful because it allows us to travel in time and space. But when you apply this to every aspect of our lives, every aspect of what constitutes us as human beings of what our soul is the results that you are getting are truly Magical.

Dr. Ken Sharlin 32:40

Yeah.

Dr. Alban Maino 32:40

They're fantastic. We have poignant testimonials from Care Partners who said, for the past two years, what we've done with Memory Lane TV, our approach transformed my relationship with my mom during the past two years, we were able to communicate, find some of her back. We were able to transform her mood quickly. managing the symptoms related to the dementia goes to the care partners. That needs to be educated and trained. My mother at the beginning thought I was a magician because in minutes I was able to manage her panic attacks holding her hand calming sounds, redirecting her attention and those biomarkers that you were talking about, we could have been measured very, a hard decrease instantly. The level of anxiety in her was instantly modified by my actions and what I was able to do or provide to her. By redirecting your attention, using music or using the science behind all this, So if there's one thing that I want your listeners today to really get out on top of all the topics we're addressing is that, the current partners are really the epicenter of that care. We need to help them. We need to educate them, and provide them with tools to manage the evolution to transform what is looked at, essentially a death sentence. As a life sentence. Find the good joke that your mother-in-law find and then repeat it several times and have laughter her and communicate again. Just like you would with a 3-year-old, with a 2-year-old. It's that cycle of life that is so magical and there is a silver lining that I really try to point out because finding that silver lining is essential.

Dosage and Practical Use

Dr. Ken Sharlin 34:26

It's like saying illness is part of the human journey, and suffering is part of the human experience, but it doesn't necessarily mean that we must suffer all the time. You have to embrace. The moment, even if that moment is declining, memory and expression, and that person we knew before they were impacted. My office has been open for 10 years and when we first established the practice and what we were trying to do with helping people that was a little outside of the system. Our walls were blank. There was a temptation to immediately decorate the office. We held off for about six months or so, and then my wife introduced me to a retired professor from Missouri State University whose career had morphed into assisting hospitals and clinics with creating art installations that were appropriate for that space. And we sat down. He has connections to primarily photographers, We talk about what is your vision for this space? What do you see here? And point is that I'm in southwest Missouri, we're at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It's actually very beautiful here. We have mountains. We have beautiful lakes and wild rivers. We have the Mark Twain National Forest. And so ultimately what he suggested was creating these large scale framed photographs, but with no human beings in them. And that these photographs would feel very familiar in the sense that they are very stereotypical images of the Ozarks, farm field with a gate, a mill, a mountain, a tree yes, I've seen that tree. Yes, of course you've seen that tree, but you've seen that looks exactly like this because this is where we live.

Dr. Alban Maino 36:28

Yes.

Dr. Ken Sharlin 36:28

I do resonate to that. And the idea of not having human beings in these photographs meant that images are universal and they are infinite, they're not locked in time. They don't look like an old, life Magazine that we found in the closet from

Dr. Alban Maino 36:45

Yes.

Dr. Ken Sharlin 36:45

50 years ago and how people dressed and how they had their hair and it looks dated, but it's meant to be timeless.

Making It a Public Good

Dr. Alban Maino 36:53

You mentioned this fear and the Eagles in our conversation earlier. last night I was at a conference and I met someone that works for Fuji Films. We were talking about, 48 k cameras that Fuji is developing to produce the content for the sphere and the new technologies that are coming with, philanthropic, dimension, how we're going to be able to project ourselves what you're describing, this sort of new Ansel Adams projection of imagery that can resonate with us and be adapted to what we're doing are going to have a huge impact. They can't replace, the actual walk. When people that I've approached in the past were saying, oh, that's great, it's media. It's, we don't want people in front of television. And I couldn't agree more. I don't want people to have more screen time. I want everybody to be able to take a walk in the woods and grow forest bathing or admire a beautiful scenery. The reality that I've witnessed for the past 15 years in senior living is so different. It's so sad. The human resources that are not there. Because when you want to get a few of those seniors down to the yoga or to something that's hectic, there's not enough people. I bless the extraordinary CNA and nurses in our countries doing all this hard work, taking care of our parents. We can't take everybody for a walk in the garden. we have the tools to make this. A reality in their daily life through technology, and that's what we're trying to do. I would like people not to use television especially not the television that they're putting on most of the time, and it's in your living because it's six o'clock. Everybody wants to watch the news and you have no idea how much anxiety this is creating because for someone who has dementia, it's like relieving that experience over and over again. We need those tools We need the sphere, the music. We need the media. The visuals. We need art in our life to feel better.

Dr. Ken Sharlin 38:48

This sounds like a wonderful tool that will help me, will help my loved one. I do have access to going for walks. forest bathing. do you recommend, a dose of Memory Lane TV? Is there 30 minutes in the morning? 30 minutes in noon, 30 minutes at night time How do we balance that?

How You Can Help

Dr. Alban Maino 39:10

Another really good. Question about the dosage and how much or how little do we need? we've measured the attention span over the years we came up with this number, which is more of a generic and can be, needs to be adapted we have different types of films, but our film generally don't last any more than 21 minutes. The attention span can vary between anywhere from three minutes up to 20, but some of our films based on where you are, if you're in early onset dementia or much more advanced will never last much more. We don't wanna put people in front of the television all day at all, but it's good to have Memory Lane TV 24/7 to replace any screens in your environment, soothing, they're calming. Sometimes they're engaging, but sometimes they're redirecting attention to a beautiful scenery because everything that we do is really beautiful and art oriented. But to answer your question, we think that having two or three times a day a dose for the lack of a better term of Memory Lane TV at moments where you actually need it, and it could be, to engage people in the afternoon. So we have engaging series of films and collections with single alongs or with questions then we recommend at the end of the day when the sundowning comes a meditation, a 21 minute films, and that we're gonna personalize if you're a woman in your seventies or eighties. We have different types of films and if you're a veteran, we're gonna provide different types of content, Throughout the meals of the day, people who have dementia, for example, forget that they're hungry, and forget appetite stimulation is a big thing, If you can turn on at lunchtime Memory Lane TV, you will find some great imagery that will incentivize your appetite whether you have the or not. Two or three times a day would be a good time. We've seen, and that's why we created the 24/7 channel that runs all day long. We've seen nurses saying, we want this, we need this. It helps us do our job and we want it all the time on. But then the activity directors and the occupational therapist, use it in more targeted way. They say, no, today we're going to talk about apple pie. Who's ever done an apple pie here? Everybody lives. And then they're going to bring, tools for the apple pie. They're gonna make a discussion. We're gonna watch a film about apple pie. We're gonna inject some apple scent in the room. So this is a very different way of using it if you're an occupational therapist of using Memory Lane TV, then the CNA who's, trying to put her, give her meds and so busy, but she needs Memory Lane TV to be on, just to soothe and calm the environment. So it really depends where you are on the spectrum of that evolution of that disease. If you're at home or if you are in a facility. There's not one single, way of using it. There's as many people as there are different ways of using it.

COMMERCIAL BREAK 42:10

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Dr. Ken Sharlin 43:50

Now I've heard that you have a vision for 2026 of Making Memory Lane TV, a free public good, Tell me about that.

Final Message for Caregivers

Closing Reflections and Thanks

Dr. Alban Maino 43:59

Thank you Dr. For mentioning that because when the new administration came in. A lot of our funding disappeared. the impact was dramatic into senior living, particularly in our fields. But for Memory Lane TV, that meant that we had to let go some of our team members, we had to stop doing some of the research that we were doing and it's still going on. So I turned to my board and I said, everything in life is an opportunity. Maybe there's something great that's happening here. What is it? And so they looked at me with big eyes and this said, what are you talking about, Alban? I said, yes, but what if we could transform this? we've built this incredibly powerful. Intervention this 24/7 unique global television that can, be used anywhere around the world because it's essentially plot free and non character driven. We've got this incredible tool, it's ready, the delivery is accessible anywhere. What if we make it free for all, instead of trying to sell subscription to find sustainability? they said, how are you gonna do this? I said, here's my idea. We're gonna use our foundation, the Memory Lane TV Foundation. We're going to find advocacy partners and we have with us a lot of them, us aging, being one of them. And I'm really happy to start working with the Alzheimer's Association, US Aging, and all the other advocacy organization. And we're gonna tell them, we are going to give you this tool and you're gonna give it away nationwide and internationally, and in order to do this, we need to make sure that it's sustainable, but we need to raise$3 million in order to be able to make that happen. So it's not totally inaccessible. Most of our funders and investors will lose most of their investment but we want to give that gift to the world. So if any of your listeners out there wants to help us get there with the Memory Lane TV Foundation, please get in touch with us because the impact that we're going to make on the 7 million plus Americans that are affected by dementia and especially their care partners, is going to resonate and be extremely important, and we need help.

Dr. Ken Sharlin 46:13

A couple people do come to mind, and I'm just curious if you've been interviewed by her or connected at any point. Of course, that's Maria Shriver, But the other one that comes to mind, you may not have encountered, I'm not exactly sure how to access this person. Really her foundation is the Alice M. Walton Foundation. Are you familiar? Alice Walton is one of the heirs to the Walmart fortune and they are located in northwest Arkansas between Bella Vista Bentonville, down to Fayetteville, where the university is. And what she has done I'm sure done many things. Obviously very wealthy family, very philanthropic. Years ago within the two thousands she curated the great American art. She wanted to tell a story about American art in northwest Arkansas. And she started buying art and then designed and created and built what is called Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. And it is as good as any of our greatest museums of art in the world is. phenomenal experience to go to Crystal Bridges, but then she got interested in health and wellness. She started something almost on the same campus as Crystal Bridges called the Whole Health Institute and then she built the Nation's first medical school where the curricula, and this is a medical degree, This isn't naturopathy, this isn't chiropractic. In other words, she's graduating MDs who are going to integrate all of these holistic principles into their patient. So they will learn the drugs, they will learn the surgeries, the procedures, all the things that we're expected to know as doctors. But this is a truly integrative school that pairs with this whole Health Institute, and I bet they would be very interested in this kind, especially with all of the art experience that comes with it.

Dr. Alban Maino 48:35

Thank you so much. I know of course of Maria Shriver and there are a lot of people who are doing extraordinary work, for charity and all the advocacy organization that we've been working for and with over the years but this sounds like a really interesting lead. And also any of your listeners, who said, I'm not a millionaire and I wish I could help. Everybody can help by letting people know that this is actually available. Just share it on your social media. One out of three of us. Is affected or is going to be affected by dementia, either as a caregiver or as a person living with it in the future. it's about, our family. It's about every single one of us. The way we're going to change that is by making sure that people are trained. education and training and knowledge of what's out there to help this condition being more livable, to increase the quality of life. people like the foundation, Maria Shriver and others can transform the world to do things like that. And you are one of them, Dr. Shalin, by having me today on your podcast. Thank you very much.

Dr. Ken Sharlin 49:39

Our hour has gone so quickly, and I know there are so many things I would love to talk about here, wonder if you could leave us with a message for caregivers and their loved ones affected by Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia and how you see the possibilities of what it can be that we can offer hope to others.

Dr. Alban Maino 50:06

Hope. That you've just mentioned, and resilience are two of the words that I use a lot when I advance in life. I'm a father myself and confronted to this pathology for over 15 years now. I want to say to all the care partners out there that not only there is hope through your resilience, but we can make this journey a good journey. You touched upon the fact that yes, we as human are meant to live and die and to suffer, It doesn't mean that this cannot be through resilience, a positive approach to life. Tik Han, who's one of my mentor and guide talks about this in very simple and beautiful ways. I would reference him as a final thought. But yes, find the beauty, find the soul of your loved ones and with that come to life in a positive way. Because it is beautiful.

Dr. Ken Sharlin 51:11

It's been such a joy and an honor to speak with you today and I look forward to connecting with you again in the future and we'll certainly spread the message about your work in our clinic and the opportunities I have to speak publicly on stage to mention your work as well to others so they can share in it. Thank you so much.

Dr. Alban Maino 51:31

No. Thank you, Dr. Sharlin. Take care. You and all your listeners.

COMMERCIAL BREAK 51:36

Hi everyone. Dr. Ken Sharlin here with the Healthy Brain Toolbox. I'd love to hear from you. If you have general questions about brain health, neurology, or the science of keeping your brain sharp. Send them to questions@healthybraintoolbox.com. I'll be reading your questions on the upcoming episodes. Please remember, these need to be general questions, can't answer personal medical questions, or provide individual medical advice. So if you've ever wondered about brain health strategies, lifestyle tips, new research, or the future of neuroscience, send those questions in. I look forward to hearing from you and who knows? You might even hear your question featured on the show. Thank you for tuning into the Healthy Brain Toolbox podcast. I hope today's conversation gave you new insights to protect and nourish your brain. Be sure to subscribe, leave a review and share this episode with anyone looking to take control of their health. Until next time, stay sharp and keep learning.