Key Question - Dementia

Question 1

what is the key question

Answer 1

How can psychologists understanding of memory help dementia patients?

Question 2

what is the prevalence of dementia in the UK

Answer 2

850 000 people

Question 3

what is the prevalence of dementia in the UK expected to have risen to in 2025

Answer 3

1 million

Question 4

what is the prognosis of dementia

Answer 4

8-10 years

Question 5

3 symptoms of dementia

Answer 5

loss of memory, confusion, problems with thinking and reasoning

Question 6

what is dementia caused by

Answer 6

the formation of abnormal deposits (plaques and tangles which are made up of protein) in the brain

this causes nerve cells to die, which causes the brain to shrink

this stops neural cells functioning properly

Question 7

which is one of the first brain regions to shrink

Answer 7

hippocampus

Question 8

which is one of the last brain regions to shrink

Answer 8

amygdala

Question 9

link the MSM to explaining dementia

Answer 9

explains why patients may forget what they have just been told
as either the info was not encoded properly, so cannot be stores, or they may have a problem rehearsing information

this is why dementia patients may say things that do not make sense

Question 10

link the MSM to helping people with dementia

Answer 10

it would help patients to ask more specific questions rather than general, to try and cue memories to help retrieve them, which prevents confusion

Question 11

link the WMM to explaining dementia

Answer 11

suggests multi-tasking is difficult because it can require the same type of processing or multiple different processing systems, when a person with dementia already has difficulties with processing this can mess up their line of thought

Question 12

link the WMM to helping people with dementia

Answer 12

reducing background noise when talking to a person with dementia would remove any dual-tasking, which would improve their attention and avoid extra unecessary processing

Question 13

link the reconstructive theory of memory to explaining dementia

Answer 13

a dementia patient may struggle to retrieve the correct schemas and may use mixed episodic memories

Question 14

link the reconstructive theory of memory to helping people with dementia

Answer 14

use cues to help the patient recall the correct schemas

ask limited questions to try and prevent distruptions to the individuals thought process

validation therapy

Question 15

what is validation therapy

Answer 15

it is thought to be more positive to enter the reality of the person with dementia instead of bringing them back to our reality

ass this builds a sense of security and reduces anxiety

prevents muddling schemas - Tulving

Question 16

example of validation therapy

Answer 16

Hogeway - a type of care home in the Netherlands set up for people with dementia

it is set up as a village

waiters and shopkeepers are nurses and carers

Question 17

link Tulving’s theory of LTM to explaining dementia

Answer 17

semantic memory seems to be lost separately because sufferers may recognise a friend but forget their name

procedural memory is affected separately - skills are often retained even though the sufferer may not remember learning them

more recent episodic memories lost first, memories from their youth last longer

Question 18

link Tulving’s theory of LTM to helping people with dementia

Answer 18

cognitive stimulation therapy

Question 19

cognitive stimulation

Answer 19

patients get together in groups to discuss, play games and solve puzzles

helps to slow down the progress of the disease and reduce stress and lonliness

helps to retain cognitive skills and stimulates memory by reminising on events

Question 20

example of cognitive stimulation

Answer 20

Mount St Vincent residential home in Seattle
400 residents meet up with 150 kindergarten children 5 days a week
they residents become lucid when they play with the children and recount their stories
referred to as ‘moments of grace’