Main characteristics of Alzheimer's disease
February 27, 2005 (Press Release) --
Main characteristics of Alzheimer's disease
Memory loss
Loss of memory can have consequences on daily life in many ways, leading to communication problems, safety hazards and behavioural problems. In order to understand how memory is affected by dementia, it is useful to consider the different kinds of memory.
Episodic Memory
This is the memory people have of events in their life ranging from the most mundane to the most personally significant. Within episodic memory, there are memories classed as short term (having happened in the last hour) and those classed as long term (having occurred more than an hour ago). People with Alzheimer's disease, at the beginning of the illness, do not seem to have any difficulty remembering distant events but may, for example, forget having done something five minutes ago. Memories of distant events although not greatly affected tend to interfere with present activities. This can sometimes result in the person acting out routines from the past which are no longer relevant.
Semantic Memory
This category covers the memory of what words mean, e.g. a flower or a dog. Unlike episodic memory, it is not personal, but rather common to all those who speak the same language. It is the shared understanding of what a word means, which enables people to having meaningful conversations. As episodic and semantic memory are not located in the same place in the brain, one may be affected and the other not.
Procedural Memory
Procedural Memory This is the memory of how to carry out actions both physically and mentally, for example, how to use a knife and fork or play chess. The loss of procedural memory can result in difficulties carrying out routine activities such as dressing, washing and cooking. This includes things which have become automatic. For this reason, some patients who have difficulty finding their words can still sing fairly well. Their procedural memory is still intact whereas their semantic memory (the meaning of words) has been damaged.
Memory loss
Loss of memory can have consequences on daily life in many ways, leading to communication problems, safety hazards and behavioural problems. In order to understand how memory is affected by dementia, it is useful to consider the different kinds of memory.
Episodic Memory
This is the memory people have of events in their life ranging from the most mundane to the most personally significant. Within episodic memory, there are memories classed as short term (having happened in the last hour) and those classed as long term (having occurred more than an hour ago). People with Alzheimer's disease, at the beginning of the illness, do not seem to have any difficulty remembering distant events but may, for example, forget having done something five minutes ago. Memories of distant events although not greatly affected tend to interfere with present activities. This can sometimes result in the person acting out routines from the past which are no longer relevant.
Semantic Memory
This category covers the memory of what words mean, e.g. a flower or a dog. Unlike episodic memory, it is not personal, but rather common to all those who speak the same language. It is the shared understanding of what a word means, which enables people to having meaningful conversations. As episodic and semantic memory are not located in the same place in the brain, one may be affected and the other not.
Procedural Memory
Procedural Memory This is the memory of how to carry out actions both physically and mentally, for example, how to use a knife and fork or play chess. The loss of procedural memory can result in difficulties carrying out routine activities such as dressing, washing and cooking. This includes things which have become automatic. For this reason, some patients who have difficulty finding their words can still sing fairly well. Their procedural memory is still intact whereas their semantic memory (the meaning of words) has been damaged.
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