Learning without facts
Loss is the hallmark of Alzheimer's: loss of brain cells, loss of thoughts, loss of self. Acquiring abilities isn't supposed to be part of the package. Yet with a little training, patients in the early stages of the disease can learn new skills.
By rehearsing patients in specific tasks for three months, psychologists at the University of Miami got them to almost double their ability to handle money and nearly triple their ability to recall names.
Learning in Alzheimer's is limited because the disease first attacks brain regions that store new memories, says Miami's David Loewenstein, coauthor of a study in the current American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. This training sidesteps these regions. Rather than asking patients to memorize facts, it capitalizes on their still-preserved "procedural memory." So to count change, patients learned to grab small coins, add up to a dollar, and keep working up from there. That's easier than trying to hold a number--say, $12.46--in their heads. The gains lasted for three months after the sessions ended. "These are real-world tasks," says Loewenstein. "If you can keep a patient independent for six months, it can avoid huge day-care costs and help a family avoid financial ruin." -Josh Fischman
This story appears in the August 2, 2004 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
advertisement
