The Role of Values in Social Change: An Analysis from The Qur’ānic Perspective

In the post-industrial revolution world, social change is often studied and understood in the context of change in means of production, mobility, urbanization and change in the constitution of workforce. Role of ethical values is generally confined to personal conduct and manners. Industrial society is supposed to have its own work ethics which may or may not agree with personal ethics and morality. Ethics and morality are generally considered, in the Western thought, as a social construct. Therefore, with the change in means of production or political system, values and morality are also expected to be re-adjusted in order to cope with the changed environment. Sometimes a totally new set of values emerges as a consequence of the change in economic, political, or legal set up. The present research tries to understand the meaning and place of these values in a global socio-cultural framework. Relying essentially on the divine principles of the Qur'ān it makes an effort to understand relevance of these universal and ultimate principles with human conduct and behavior in society.  It indicates that essentially it is the core values, principles, or norms which guide human beings in their interpersonal, social, economic and political matters. Islam being a major civilizing force, culture, and the way of life, provides values which guide both in individual and social matters. The values given by the Qur’ān and the Sunnah are not monopoly of the Muslim. These values are universal and are relevant in a technological society.

Effects of Exercise on Electroencephalogram Parameters and Cognitive Functions in Mild Cognitive Impairment Patients

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is becoming an emerging problem for developing countries where there is increase in expected age. There is no specific therapeutic treatment for these patients. Evidence suggests that the combination of both exercise and physical activity has a greater effect on MCI patients, than exercise or physical activity alone. The objective of this study was to determine the short and long-term effects of aerobic exercise and Xbox 360 Kinect cognitive games on slowness, complexity, coherence in electroencephalography (EEG) signals, somatosensory evoke potentials (SEPs) and cognitive tests in MCI patients. A parallel group design study was conducted in the Pakistan Railways General Hospital, Rawalpindi. Patients were selected and randomly divided into Xbox 360 Kinect cognitive games group (n=22), aerobic exercise group (n=21), single session aerobic exercise group (n=14) and their respective control groups (n=22, n=22, n=14 respectively). The outcome measures were slowness, complexity coherence of EEG, SEPs and mini-mental state examination (MMSE), Montreal cognitive assessment scale (MoCA) and trail making test (TMT) A and B. EEG was recorded using the EMOTIV EPOC with 14 channels and Refa 72-channel stationary system. Patients were assessed before and after one session of intervention for short-term effects and after six weeks for long-term effects. After one session of aerobic exercise there were significant improvements in slowness (delta waves; 0.678+0.035 vs 0.791+0.033; p=0.015) and complexity (0.601+0.051 vs 0.470+0.042; p=0.027) of the EEG in aerobic exercise treated group as compared to no-aerobic exercise group. After six weeks there were significant xxii improvements in slowness (delta waves; 0.581+0.036 vs 0.815+0.025; p=0.005) and complexity (0.751+0.045 vs 0.533+0.046; p=0.001) of the EEG in the aerobic group as compared to no-aerobic group. Moreover, significant improvements were observed in the MMSE (p=0.032), MoCA (p=0.036), TMT-A (p=0.005) and TMT-B (p=0.007) in aerobic exercise group as compared to no-aerobic group. After one session of Xbox 360 Kinect cognitive games intervention, delta (0.704+0.025; p=0.013), theta (0.128+0.009; p=.0.00127) waves and complexity of EEG (0.642+0.042; p=0.008) significantly improved, in eyes closed state. Whereas after six weeks intervention of games, delta (0.673+0.029; p=0.013), theta (0.129+0.013; p=0.002), beta2 waves (0.044+0.009; p=0.046), complexity of EEG (0.051+0.042; p=0.016), MMSE (26.25+0.347vs 23.722+0.731; p=0.003), MoCA (25.65+0.310vs 22.00+0.504; p=0.0001), TMT-A (1.429+0.234vs 2.225+0.259; p=0.028) and TMT-B (2.393+0.201vs 3.780+0.195; p=0.0001) improved significantly. These changes were not observed in the control group. Upon comparison of aerobic exercise and Xbox 360 Kinetic cognition games, it was found that aerobic exercise has more short and long-term therapeutic effects on MCI patients as compared to Xbox 360 Kinect cognitive games group. Single session of aerobic exercise significantly decreased the inter-hemisphere coherence, however, it improved intrahemisphere coherence. After single session of aerobic exercise, there was significant decrease in peak amplitude of SEPs in MCI patients, however, no effect on SEPs peak latencies was found. This study suggests that aerobic exercise and Xbox 360 Kinetic cognitive games have dual/2-fold beneficial effect on age associated MCI. First one, the progression of MCI is slowed down significantly. Second, there is evidence of xxiii improvement in the cognitive state of MCI patients. Such intervention for treatment purpose could be helpful to rehabilitate MCI patients in third world countries.