Brain Facts:
Alzheimer's
| Topic | Discussion | Resource |
| Exercise and Alzheimer’s | Longitudinal study in eastern Finland started in 1970s: Of the 2000 people in the study, 76 had Alzheimer’s disease in 1998. Those who had been physically active in midlife (e.g., leisure-time physical activity that lasts at least 20-30 minutes and causes breathlessness and sweating) were less likely to have Alzheimer’s and other dementia. | Fields, Helen (writer). Physical Exercise may Stave off Alzheimer’s. U S News and World Report. Reported October, 2005, article |
Alzheimer’s |
Recent studies suggest that people who have early stage Alzheimer’s disease may be capable of learning more than previously thought. Dr. David Loewenstein and associates at mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida, taught Alzheimer’s patients memory skills to improve name and face recognition over a three month period. They found that intervention improved recall of faces and names by 170 percent, and the improvement was sustained over the following three-months. In another study of Alzheimer’s patients, an eight-week mental stimulation program, in combination with the antidementia medicine Aricept, significantly improved patient interactions and overall functioning levels. |
Gary Small, MD |
Alzheimer’s |
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that mentally stimulating leisure activities such as reading, doing crossword puzzles, or playing board games lowers the risk for Alzheimer’s disease by nearly a third. |
Gary Small, MD |
Alzheimer’s—Music |
Daniel J. Levitin pointed out in his 2007 book, This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, that victims of Alzheimer’s disease can lose massive amounts of memory and still remember songs, especially songs of their younger years. According to Levitin, the emotional centers of the brain work together with neurotransmitters to “tab” our memories of the music we find to be emotionally charged, That explains why each generation grows nostalgic about its music and why “oldies but goodies” radio formats are easy to find on the dial. Teenage years are emotionally charged—if not to say volatile—and connections to that music are etched deeply. |
Zack Lynch |
Alzheimer’s |
One way memory is destroyed, as in dementia and Alzheimer’s, is through a disruption of the neurotransmitter system. New research focuses on the receiving apparatus of nerve cells—how plentiful and "sensitive" dendritic receptors are at capturing and processing neurotransmitters. No matter how much of a neurotransmitter roams the brain, if receptors are not "activated" to pass the message on it stops dead. |
Jean Carper |
Graceful Degradation |
Memories suffer a loss of clarity and specificity rather than disappearing altogether. |
Richard Restak |
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