A pioneering new project that tries to recreate lost memories through artificial intelligence could offer hope to people diagnosed with dementia.
With the approach, demonstrated at the World Governments Summit on Wednesday, people with dementia are interviewed about their first memories or important moments in their lives, this is fed through artificial intelligence algorithms, and images and videos are then created of those episodes.
They are shown these images and videos, a process which, it is hoped, will trigger more memories and reconnect with what was blocked.
“They start saying … wow, yes, that was me or that was my mom, my house,” said Martina Nadal, chief operating officer for the Spanish company, Domestic Data Streamers, which is behind the project.
“Then they start remembering additional details like … my mom's hair was a bit like [this] or my house was a bit … different. And so they start building on top of the images and remembering more of the emotional story,” she told The National.
“Whenever families are there, they are also kind of memory triggers and they can give some input or say 'you always tell this story' or 'you always said that grandma'.”
Ms Nadal said that the process, known as synthetic memories, was still in the pilot phase but some people with a dementia diagnosis had responded well, were “absolutely connected and sharp” during the process and provided additional details afterwards to “really represent those pieces of their past”.
“You stimulate their neurons in a very emotional way that helps them connect the neurons that usually cannot connect because of the disease or dementia,” she said.
Dementia is one of the greatest health challenges of our generation, according to the World Health Organisation. It is thought 78 million people could be living with it by the end of the decade. It is the seventh leading cause of death in the world, the WHO says.
Ms Nadal said patients typically have a “very emotional reaction” to the treatment and remember more of the story of their lives.
“So whenever they can connect and remember who they are, where they are, what the context is, they can then follow, for example, carrying out instructions or medication,” she said.
“Now we are escalating the research with Google Arts and the Toronto University to see [what] is the real impact on the brain, [at] the neurological level.”
The approach also underlines how technology companies with no history in the medical sphere could have the potential to transform treatment. Ms Nadal said patients in nursing homes had participated in the trials. The company, she added, was keen to team up with medics and others around the world to scale it up and assess the long-term benefits for patients and if it could be used in a more widespread, systematic way.
“What we saw is that this can be used as a reminiscence therapy tool, which are the sort of therapies that stimulate the brain in a very emotional way so people can connect with memories that were kind of blocked,” she said.
It also has potential in cultural spheres and a test project was conducted in Brazil to talk to people who lived in a very diverse neighbourhood to share their stories of migration. This could prove useful with “invisible communities” in history to try to ensure memories were not lost, she said.
Ms Nadal, who said she had been talking to groups in Dubai about the project, said the company was planning to open a “public office” of memory reconstruction in Barcelona where any citizen would be able to go and “reconstruct their memories”.
The synthetic memories project was one of 13 pioneering advancements being shown at the Edge of Government innovation centre at the World Governments Summit.
The centre was overseen by the Mohammed bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation and drew many visitors on the final day and was also visited by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Turkey’s RoboRoyale project, which outlined how robotic bees could help ecosystems, and Spain’s life work balance project, in which Barcelona included time-use in the city’s policy agenda, won this year's Edge of Government award.
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A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
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MATCH INFO
Real Madrid 2
Vinicius Junior (71') Mariano (90 2')
Barcelona 0
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Letstango.com
Started: June 2013
Founder: Alex Tchablakian
Based: Dubai
Industry: e-commerce
Initial investment: Dh10 million
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 300,000 unique customers every month
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
Tom Fletcher on 'soft power'
Company profile
Company name: Dharma
Date started: 2018
Founders: Charaf El Mansouri, Nisma Benani, Leah Howe
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: TravelTech
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investors: Convivialite Ventures, BY Partners, Shorooq Partners, L& Ventures, Flat6Labs
Profile box
Founders: Michele Ferrario, Nino Ulsamer and Freddy Lim
Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
Based: Singapore, with offices in the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand
Sector: FinTech, wealth management
Initial investment: $500,000 in seed round 1 in 2016; $2.2m in seed round 2 in 2017; $5m in series A round in 2018; $12m in series B round in 2019; $16m in series C round in 2020 and $25m in series D round in 2021
Current staff: more than 160 employees
Stage: series D
Investors: EightRoads Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India
EMIRATES'S%20REVISED%20A350%20DEPLOYMENT%20SCHEDULE
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Results
Stage 7:
1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29
2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time
3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious
4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM
General Classification:
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35
3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02
4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42
5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45
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1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 281
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4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull 177
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 138
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Race%20card
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More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
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Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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Engine: 8.0-litre, quad-turbo 16-cylinder
Transmission: 7-speed auto
0-100kmh 2.3 seconds
0-200kmh 5.5 seconds
0-300kmh 11.6 seconds
Power: 1500hp
Torque: 1600Nm
Price: Dh13,400,000
On sale: now
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Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
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A cheaper choice
Vanuatu: $130,000
Why on earth pick Vanuatu? Easy. The South Pacific country has no income tax, wealth tax, capital gains or inheritance tax. And in 2015, when it was hit by Cyclone Pam, it signed an agreement with the EU that gave it some serious passport power.
Cost: A minimum investment of $130,000 for a family of up to four, plus $25,000 in fees.
Criteria: Applicants must have a minimum net worth of $250,000. The process take six to eight weeks, after which the investor must travel to Vanuatu or Hong Kong to take the oath of allegiance. Citizenship and passport are normally provided on the same day.
Benefits: No tax, no restrictions on dual citizenship, no requirement to visit or reside to retain a passport. Visa-free access to 129 countries.
