This is a well-rounded lecture summary of "Dementia and the Brain – Introduction to Alzheimer’s disease” lecture in the Second Teaching Block in the Brain and Behaviour module, Year 1.
The collection of notes form both the slides provided before the lecture and the actual lecture. It cont...
1. Dementia and the Brain – Introduction to Alzheimer’s disease
o Impact of dementia – growing because of more people are living to extreme old ages
o Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a form of dementia (a progressive degenerative disease affecting the brain
and the nervous system – definition that applies to all kinds of dementia).
o Characterized by:
Loss of brain cells with consequent shrinkage of the brain -> gradually getting smaller
Psychological symptoms that increase as the disease progresses
Affects primarily the cortex
o Can last 3-20 years, average 7-8 years – no onset or time for lasting
o Currently no cure (though drugs may boost performance for some people)
o Alzheimer's disease is not the only form of progressive, degenerative brain disease (dementia)
AD accounts for around 60% of cases of dementia.
Other forms of dementia include:
Vascular (multi-infarct) dementia
Focal dementias, including fronto-temporal dementia
Subcortical dementias – basal ganglia (e.g., Parkinsons disease,
Huntington’s disease).
About 820,000 people in the UK have some form of dementia.
o Consequences for society and health provision: Risk of having AD doubles
every 5 years after the age of 65
The Queen’s 100th birthday cards number is increasing
Females live longer than males -> more elderly women with AD than men
People live longer -> the number of AD patients is expected to grow steadily
42% of people in the UK have a family member or friend with AD
A leading cause of death in the UK
Annual cost of each patient to the UK economy estimated at >£25,000 per year
Total estimated cost = £23bn per annum
o Dementia is common in older age, and it can affect anyone…
o What is Alzheimer’s disease? (Mild stages) - Psychological symptoms
1. Minimal / mild dementia. - memory loss
- 'episodic' - problems remembering events from the past, or planned events in the future (‘prospective
memory’) – usually recent events
- 'semantic' - problems remembering the names of things; recognising familiar people - meaning of things
- ‘working memory’ – problems keeping information in mind; losing track of tasks and conversations
- problems thinking and making decisions
- can live independently with support
2. Moderate dementia / more severe
- confusion; disorientation in time and space
- poor judgment; apathy about life and condition – lack of emotional response
- personality changes (become withdrawn, paranoid behaviour, neglect of appearance)
- hallucinations; disturbed sleep patterns (sundowning)
3. Severe dementia:
- patients forget their own identity
- do not recognise other people
- unable to communicate
- loss of mobility; poor control over bodily functions
o Mini-mental State Exam
Quick clinical assessment: The Mini-Mental State Examination, Folstein, M.F., Folstein, S.E. and
McHugh, P.R. (1975)
Results: it affects so many areas of cognition: orientation in time/space; attentional control –
focussed cognitive activity; short-term or working memory – ability to keep info in mind; long-term
episodic memory – retrieving info after not thinking about it; language/semantic knowledge
Intersecting pentagons from MMSE
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