Alzheimer's Dementia Studies

Given the supposed role of the hippocampal system in encoding memory in long-term stores, researchers have eagerly tried to address this issue using PET and fMRI. One way in which they attempted to find evidence to support this involved face encoding and recognition in episodic memory. Episodic memory encoding is the process by which the experience of an event is

It has been shown that the development of the ability to combine events that share common information is supported by the improvement of episodic memory behaviors (Martin-Ordas et al., 2014). Further, age-related memory differences can be attributed to the development of hippocampal subregions (DeMaster et al., 2016). In particular, Cornu ammonis fields 1(CA1) functionally contribute to the encoding and generalization of related events (Schlichting et al., 2014). The improvement in associative memory inference from childhood to adulthood is also related to the developmental changes in CA1 volume (Schlichting et al., 2016).

Alzheimer’s is an irreversible, progressive brain disorder that gradually memory and thinking skills, and in the end the capacity to complete the easiest tasks. It is depicted by the German neuropathologist Alois Alzheimer in 1905 which the sickness was named after him. In 1906, Dr. Alzheimer noticed changes in the brain tissue of a woman who had died of an unusual mental illness. Her symptoms included memory loss, dialect issues and capricious conduct. After she died, Dr. Alzheimer chose to analyze her cerebrum and discovered numerous unusual clusters which is currently known as amyloid plaque and tangles of strands otherwise called neurofibrillary or tangles. This ailment intensifies with propelling age, despite the fact that there is no

It is already established that late-life depression is associated with increased risk of dementia, but the temporal relationship between depression and development of

Hippocampus is a small, curved region, which exists in both hemispheres of the brain and plays a vital role in emotions, learning and acquisition of new information. It also contributes majorly to long term memory, which is permanent information stored in the brain. Although long term memory is the last information that can be forgotten, its impairment has become very common nowadays. The dysfunction is exemplified by many neurological disorders such as amnesia. There are two types of amnesia, anterograde and retrograde. Anterograde amnesia is inability in forming new information, while retrograde refers to the loss of the past memory. As suggested by Cipolotti and Bird (2006), hippocampus’s lesions are

Alzheimer’s in most cases is not a hereditary disease that can be passed down through generations of families. “Many people fear that Alzheimer's disease in the family may be passed on to children and grandchildren. In the vast majority (99 percent) of cases, this is not so.”(Alzheimer’s Society, 2016, p.1) Alzheimer’s is sometimes a hereditary disease that is potentially passed down, but a patient is not guaranteed to develop the disease if a family member has it. Although if more than one family member has Alzheimer’s the patient has a higher likelihood of contracting the disease. “Those who have a parent, brother or sister with Alzheimer’s are more likely to develop the disease.”(Alzheimer’s Association, 2018, p.1) The risk of developing

I can't agree with you more. When I started this assignment, all I could think of were those same things. Going outside playing with friends, playing video games and not haven't a real true care in the world. It is truly amazing how life works out sometimes. An I agree that at that age we are flooded with emotions and everything is always 100 as the last video said. I look back on growing up and I just laugh thinking about all the stupid little problems I had and how I made them out to be the end of the world. A lost love, a broken heart...... Now, I do not have a lot of experience in the older age department but reading your post is truly what most if not all adults worry about. If they don't I am sure that I do. Dementia and Alzheimer's

Doctors and scientists dispute the exact role of the hippocampus, but agree that it has an essential role in the formation of new memories about personally experienced events. Some researchers prefer to consider the hippocampus as part of a larger medial temporal lobe memory system responsible for declarative memory. When a long-term, declarative memory is made, certain neuronal connections in the temporal lobe are strengthened, and others are weakened. These changes are fairly permanent, however some may take weeks or months before they are complete

Patients with defect to medial temporal lobe depict deficits in making new declarative memories but are still able to recall older memories, suggestion is that medial temporal lobe is necessary for converting memories in neocortex.

Several theoretical frameworks may explain MTL involvement in implicit memory. For example, Schohamy & Turk-Browne (2013) provide a framework by which the MTL may be active in both explicit and implicit memory processes. First, the hippocampus in the adult brain is highly connected

Researcher’s found that the response times between elderly subjects with and without Alzheimer’s disease were not significantly different. However, the brain scans did reveal that the default-mode network activity is deficient in subjects with Alzheimer’s disease, but not in healthy elderly subjects. Further, “prominent coactivation of the hippocampus [was] detected in all groups.”

The limbic system refers to a collection of subcortical structures in the brain that surround the thalamus. Among other structures, this area consists of the amygdala, olfactory cortex, hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus in the medial temporal lobe. Individuals with medial temporal lobe amnesia have shown impairment for learning as well as retrograde amnesia for recent events, but no such deficit for remembering remote events (Bayley, Hopkins, & Squire, 2003; Reed & Squire, 1998).

The study’s design was observing and comparing brain-activity patterns during study of visually presented words to examine remembering and forgetting in a later oral free recall task, while manipulating deep versus shallow processing during the presentation of stimuli. Deep encoding was operationalized by fMRI increased activity in the left hippocampus, eliciting functional connectivity with larger scale semantic networks. Shallow encoding was operationalized by increased activity in the same brain areas as deep encoding (although weaker) in addition to qualitatively distinct connectivity changes.

Case 1 tells the story of Henry Molaison (HM), a man with no memory. He lost his memory due to the operation of suctioned out the hippocampus to treat his epileptic seizures. At that time, it was not known yet that the hippocampus was essential for making memories. After operation, his seizures were significantly reduced, but Henry suffered a global amnesia. Owen et al. (2007) describes patients with global amnesia as perceptive and attentive but with a total loss of short-term memory and some trouble accessing memories of the recent past. Henry could not learn new things as he quickly forgot everything that he had learned. He could learn at a subconscious level only.