Alzheimer's (AO1) Flashcards
What is the prevalence and cost to society of Alzheimer’s disease? (4 points)
Causes loss of memory, confusion, apathy, and depression
Most common type of dementia, a disease affecting 8-10% of those over 65
Currently affects 850,000 people in the UK - set to rise to 2 million by 2051.
No cure - currently costs the UK around 27 billion pounds a year
How does Alzheimer’s disease affect the regions of the brain? (4 points)
Occurs when proteins build up in neurons in the hippocampus - responsible for declarative episodic memories (Schmolck) and navigation
Patients first fail to remember recent events e.g. paying bills and they get lost in places
Spreads outward to the anterolateral temporal region - leads to the loss of declarative semantic memories (Schmolck) and schemata
E.g. ‘Altasian’ –> ‘dog’ –> ‘animal’
Spread outwards further to the frontal lobe - affects ability to make decisions and solve simple problems (working memory)
How is validation therapy used to treat dementia patients? (3 points)
Hogewey - a dementia village where residents can live in the past
Residents live with their personal preferences (e.g. preferred foods) without being contradicted or confused
Reconstructive memory can be applied to Hogewey - village links to long-standing schemas
How does Tulving’s LTM theory apply to validation therapy for dementia patients? (3 points)
Forgetting episodic memories is due to a lack of context and cues
Residents can be active and calm if they are surrounded by familiar context and cues from their younger lives
E.g. photographs of family and identity memorabilia
Any new information the patients need to know should be written down and not left to just telling the patient due to semantic knowledge consolidation deficits
