NEWPORT BEACH – (August 27, 2014) “What’s Up, Doc?” You are! Studies show that controlling depression, engaging in intellectual pursuits and expressing creativity can help to slow or prevent the development of dementia as a person ages. So this fall, Hoag Neurosciences Institute’s Orange County Vital Brain Aging Program (OCVBAP) will enlist an unlikely ally in the battle against Alzheimer’s disease: Bugs Bunny.The OCVBAP and Chuck Jones Center for Creativity on Sept. 19 will team up for a fun, family-friendly evening to highlight the ways creative pursuits and intellectual activity in early adulthood can help prevent the development of dementia as a person ages.

The OCVBAP supports local efforts to help Orange County residents maintain a healthy brain for life, while the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity in Costa Mesa strives to inspire the innate creative genius within each person.

By joining forces, the groups hope to show the public that creativity is not just the realm of the artist and that creative problem solving can be taught.

“When you activate a brain area, it works like a muscle – it gets bigger, functions more efficiently. Creative activity activates more brain areas than just about any other kind of activity and might help to prevent damage from various diseases like Alzheimer’s,” said William R. Shankle, M.S., M.D., F.A.C.P., the Judy & Richard Voltmer Endowed Chair in Memory and Cognitive Disorders at Hoag. “Chuck Jones created or helped create all these iconic characters in our culture: Bugs Bunny, Wile E. Coyote. Using these characters to educate and inspire people to be more creative is an exciting exercise.”

The organizations are particularly interested in reaching the “sandwich generation,” people who don’t normally think about their risk of dementia or ways they can protect themselves in early adulthood from the ravages of progressive cognitive disorders.

Dr. Shankle will present information about the importance of keeping the mind “young” through creative pursuits. Chuck Jones Center for Creativity representatives will offer participants – including children – the opportunity to put that creativity to work at various “creativity stations.” Refreshments will be served.

The program will take place on Sept. 19 from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. at the Hoag Hospital Newport Beach Conference Center, One Hoag Drive, Building 44, Newport Beach, CA 92663. Reservations required. To RSVP, call 800-400-HOAG. For more information, visit www.hoag.org/brainhealth.

ABOUT HOAG MEMORIAL HOSPITAL PRESBYTERIAN

Hoag is an approximately $1 billion nonprofit, regional health care delivery network in Orange County, California, that treats more than 24,000 inpatients and 362,000 outpatients annually. Hoag consists of two acute-care hospitals, six health centers, and six urgent care centers. Hoag Hospital Newport Beach, which has served Orange County since 1952, and Hoag Hospital Irvine, which opened in 2010, are designated Magnet hospitals by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Hoag offers a comprehensive blend of health care services that includes five institutes providing specialized services in the following areas: cancer, heart and vascular, neurosciences, women’s health, and orthopedics through Hoag’s affiliate, Hoag Orthopedic Institute. In 2013, Hoag entered into an alliance with St. Joseph Health to further expand health care services in the Orange County community, known as St. Joseph Hoag Health. Hoag has been named one of the Best Regional Hospitals in the U.S. News & World Report Metro Edition. National Research Corporation has endorsed Hoag as Orange County’s most preferred hospital for the past 18 consecutive years and, for an unprecedented 18 years, residents of Orange County have chosen Hoag as the county’s best hospital in a local newspaper survey. Visit www.hoag.org for more information.

About Chuck Jones Center for Creativity

The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 public charity located in Costa Mesa, California. Founded in 1999 by four-time Academy Award recipient and legendary animation creator and director, Chuck Jones, the Center's vision is a world where creativity is known and experienced in every discipline, by the many, not just the few.

This is an important goal, particularly in today's world, when arts education is practically non-existent; we are dedicated to re-invigorating the creative spirit and we are doing it through art classes, exhibitions, lectures, and film festivals, all of which spring from the material in the Chuck Jones archive. Jones was a determined saver and his writings, art, and other ephemera from a nine-decade life along with his philosophy of guiding and nurturing instruction form the basis of our programs.

Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, 3321 Hyland Avenue, Suite A, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, 949-660-7793 x 22107.ChuckJonesCenter.org.