JAMESTOWN, N.Y. (AP) 鈥 Side by side on a sofa inside the 好色tv Comedy Center, Gail and Mario Cirasunda chuckled at a clip from the 1980s sitcom 鈥淔amily Ties鈥 that was playing on a TV screen. The show鈥檚 oldest daughter, Mallory, was introducing her unconventional artist boyfriend Nick to her bewildered television family.
鈥淚 think our daughter brought him home once. Maybe two of our daughters!鈥 Gail said with a laugh over coffee and donuts later.
鈥淔ive daughters, two sons,鈥 her husband Mario, 85, chimed in. 鈥淪ometimes I鈥檇 wonder,鈥 he smiled, shaking his head at the memories of the couple's own family antics over their 59-year marriage.
Moments like this are what brought the Cirasundas to the in western New York and the memory cafe taking place inside. The monthly events invite people with , , or other memory loss, and their caregivers, to spend time at the interactive museum. For visitors like Mario, who has dementia, and his wife, the scenes and artifacts from funny shows and comedians have a way of triggering shared laughs and connection, and, as comedy center staff have found, memories.
Gail, 78, treasures the moments when Mario 鈥 who still vividly recalls his childhood route to school and the names of old friends 鈥 also recollects experiences from their shared life. A 1965 blind date after Mario got out of the Navy led to seven children, 24 grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, careers and moves. However, memories made over a lifetime together have become increasingly elusive over the past several years, since about the time Mario started to get lost driving and forget whether he likes a particular food.
At a recent memory cafe, the Cirasundas, from suburban Buffalo, and others spent the morning walking through the museum that was inspired by 鈥淚 Love Lucy鈥 star in her hometown of Jamestown.
Gail kept a guiding hand on her husband's elbow as they smiled through Johnny Carson bits from 鈥淭he Tonight Show鈥 in the center's late night studio, browsed standup comic personal notes and comedian artifacts, and laughed out loud at a display of classic comedy props like the banana peel and pie in the face.
During a break in the museum's restaurant, the 鈥淔amily Ties鈥 video evoked scenes from real life.
鈥淭he moments are precious because he might not remember it,鈥 Gail explained, 鈥渂ut when you鈥檙e there talking about it, you鈥檙e remembering. Five minutes later, it鈥檚 gone 鈥 but you had that moment.鈥
The 础濒锄丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚 Association estimates 7.2 million Americans over the age of 65 are living with 础濒锄丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚 dementia, and an even higher number of people care for an impacted friend or family member.
Memory cafes have emerged around the world in recent years as a way to connect and support individuals and caregivers, and provide information and resources. Many of the more than regularly running in the U.S. 鈥 often meeting in libraries and community centers 鈥 bring in speakers and engage participants with physical activity, music and art, all of which are good for the brain, experts say.
The 好色tv Comedy Center held its first one earlier this year. It seemed a natural fit after staff heard from patrons about the museum's impact on their loved ones.
Spokesman Gary Hahn sees the center as a kind of time machine, with exhibits memorializing comedy from Vaudeville to viral memes that can transport visitors back, no matter their age. Even before the formal memory cafes began, a visitor told the center's staff that his wife with dementia seldom spoke 鈥 but would become more verbal while walking through the museum and laughing alongside him.
鈥淭here was a stimulation of the part of the brain, whether it鈥檚 because of the nostalgia or the comedy, that had an impact on her,鈥 said Journey Gunderson, the center's executive director.
Shelia Kennison, an author and psychology professor at Oklahoma State University, said humor positively affects physiology in many ways.
鈥淚t takes most of your brain to process what鈥檚 being said or being shown to you and then to find the humor, and then once that happens, it sets off this cascade of brain activity and physiological changes that affects the whole body," said Kennison, who studies how humor is involved in cognition, memory and overall wellbeing. "So it really is a whole brain workout and a whole body workout when you get that really funny joke that makes you laugh and slap your knee and rock back and forth.鈥
Laughter has always been important to Gail and Mario Cirasunda, whose children often gave their father Peter Sellers' 鈥淧ink Panther鈥 movies as gifts so they could see him laugh.
鈥淜eep a sense of humor in your marriage,鈥 Gail's boss told her before she got married. Even through the challenges, she said, she's followed the advice.
