Key Question - Dementia Flashcards
what is the key question
How can psychologists understanding of memory help dementia patients?
what is the prevalence of dementia in the UK
850 000 people
what is the prevalence of dementia in the UK expected to have risen to in 2025
1 million
what is the prognosis of dementia
8-10 years
3 symptoms of dementia
loss of memory, confusion, problems with thinking and reasoning
what is dementia caused by
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
which is one of the first brain regions to shrink
hippocampus
which is one of the last brain regions to shrink
amygdala
link the MSM to explaining dementia
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
link the MSM to helping people with dementia
it would help patients to ask more specific questions rather than general, to try and cue memories to help retrieve them, which prevents confusion
link the WMM to explaining dementia
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
link the WMM to helping people with dementia
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
link the reconstructive theory of memory to explaining dementia
a dementia patient may struggle to retrieve the correct schemas and may use mixed episodic memories
link the reconstructive theory of memory to helping people with dementia
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
what is validation therapy
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
example of validation therapy
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
link Tulving’s theory of LTM to explaining dementia
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
link Tulving’s theory of LTM to helping people with dementia
cognitive stimulation therapy
cognitive stimulation
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
example of cognitive stimulation
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’
