Hi, this is Ira Flato, and you're listening to Science Friday.

Today on the podcast, Josh is struggling with alcoholism, so he moves back home to get sober.

And then somewhat unexpectedly, he finds that his alcoholic-induced brain fog and memory loss are similar to what's happening

with his four aging grandparents. Josh reads about the idea of something called cognitive reserve

that doing brain-stimulating activities can prevent or delay the onset of dementia symptoms.

So he tries out some creative strategies to help both himself and his grandparents.

That's the plot of the semi-autobiographical play, The Reservoir,

the play received funding from the Sloan Foundation,

which also supports Science Friday.

It's currently running at the Atlantic Theater Company and co-produced by the Ensemble Studio Theater in New York. Joining me now is

the playwright Jake Brash. He's based in Brooklyn. Welcome to Science Friday. Thank you so much

for having me. Well, I loved it. It's a terrific play. It's a timely play. It's semi-bobiographical. Tell me how you came up with

the premise. So I actually started with the science. I was looking for something to pitch to the Sloan

Foundation and they came across this concept of cognitive reserve and looked at all of the factors,

you know, that one can try to improve in order to delay the onset of Alzheimer's symptoms and realize that

those are largely the things that one does to get sober. So I started there and then quickly realized,

oh my gosh, I'm writing about that year of my life. And I don't think I would have otherwise,

but the science was really what started it. And then ultimately, I knew I wanted to write a play about intergenerational connection

and grandparents and how much I loved my grandparents and also how my family copes with difficult

things through humor.

How did you go about weaving in the science?

And by that, I mean, did you really make sure the science was correct when you put it in there? Or did you use a lot of literary license in this? I mean, I hope the science is correct. Please, Sloan Foundation. I hope the science is correct. I, you know, first and foremost, it's a play, right? And I think it's important when you're trying to make art about science or sharing science, that the story itself is the most important

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