#Alzheimers Activities

[courtyard01]

Engaging Alzheimer's patients in meaningful activities can improve their quality of life. This blog highlights various activities suitable for Alzheimer's patients, focusing on memory exercises, arts and crafts, and gentle physical activities. Learn how these activities can stimulate the mind, boost mood, and promote connection, helping caregivers provide enriching experiences for their loved ones.

[unhonestlymirror]

Ngl, I kinda hate how One Piece portrays narcolepsy

[j-august]

If magical acts are ineffective rituals employed as an alternative to sheer helplessness in the face of events, then how are we to classify the status of 'scientific' remedies, in which we place faith, but which are subsequently exposed as useless? This was the fate of Galenic medicine, which in the sixteenth century was the main rival to folk-healing. But it will also be that of much of the medicine of today. Sociologists have observed that contemporary doctors and surgeons engage in many ritual practices of a non-operative kind. Modern medicine shares an optimistic bias with the charmers and wise women and it has similar means of explaining away any failure. In many other spheres of modern life we also put our trust in activities designed to 'work' (for example, in diplomatic conferences as a means of avoiding war), when all the evidence, if we wished to consider it, suggests that they do not.

Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic

[dottores]

alzheimer’s is the most cruel disease ever 🥲

[tamaraneanlives]

Nursing home jobs are hell bc they don't pay enough and the stereotypes about nurses being bitches are true but i think more leftists should make it a point to work at them

[compassionatecareagencyllc]

Tailoring Activities for Alzheimer’s Patients is crucial for their well-being and quality of life. Professionals from a home health agency in Boca Raton, Florida, emphasize the importance of customizing activities to match the cognitive and physical abilities of individuals with Alzheimer’s. By personalizing activities, caregivers can help maintain the patient’s engagement and stimulate cognitive function, which can slow down the progression of symptoms and enhance overall happiness.

[darling-gemini]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!

[caregivervent]

Remembering a former colleague, community activist

Earlier this month, a former colleague of mine, Marcia Killingsworth, died from lung disease. Our paths crossed professionally when we worked for the same newspaper and then we became longtime Facebook friends, where we shared a loving devotion to our cats. I knew that Marcia had been actively involved in her community of Edison, Georgia, where she moved back to after retiring. An article…

[caintooth]

seeing people my age talk about how scared they are of memory loss, which they only associate with old age, is so surreal to see as a 24 year old who has actively experienced memory loss for a long time now

there are causes for memory loss besides dementia and alzheimer’s, i hope y’all know that. dissociative disorders, trauma, brain injuries, thyroid problems, even just stress and lack of sleep can fuck up your ability to store, process, and access memory. and that’s just a few of the many causes i can think of off the top of my head right now.

please stop treating disabled people like some scary “other” that you might become only in the distant, decades-away future. we are your age, too. you may become one of us sooner than you know. stop acting like memory loss marks the end of a life, when so many of us have so much living left to do!

[jcmarchi]

Mapping the brain pathways of visual memorability

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/mapping-the-brain-pathways-of-visual-memorability/

Mapping the brain pathways of visual memorability

For nearly a decade, a team of MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) researchers have been seeking to uncover why certain images persist in a people’s minds, while many others fade. To do this, they set out to map the spatio-temporal brain dynamics involved in recognizing a visual image. And now for the first time, scientists harnessed the combined strengths of magnetoencephalography (MEG), which captures the timing of brain activity, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which identifies active brain regions, to precisely determine when and where the brain processes a memorable image. 

Their open-access study, published this month in PLOS Biology, used 78 pairs of images matched for the same concept but differing in their memorability scores — one was highly memorable and the other was easy to forget. These images were shown to 15 subjects, with scenes of skateboarding, animals in various environments, everyday objects like cups and chairs, natural landscapes like forests and beaches, urban scenes of streets and buildings, and faces displaying different expressions. What they found was that a more distributed network of brain regions than previously thought are actively involved in the encoding and retention processes that underpin memorability. 

“People tend to remember some images better than others, even when they are conceptually similar, like different scenes of a person skateboarding,” says Benjamin Lahner, an MIT PhD student in electrical engineering and computer science, CSAIL affiliate, and first author of the study. “We’ve identified a brain signature of visual memorability that emerges around 300 milliseconds after seeing an image, involving areas across the ventral occipital cortex and temporal cortex, which processes information like color perception and object recognition. This signature indicates that highly memorable images prompt stronger and more sustained brain responses, especially in regions like the early visual cortex, which we previously underestimated in memory processing.”

While highly memorable images maintain a higher and more sustained response for about half a second, the response to less memorable images quickly diminishes. This insight, Lahner elaborated, could redefine our understanding of how memories form and persist. The team envisions this research holding potential for future clinical applications, particularly in early diagnosis and treatment of memory-related disorders. 

The MEG/fMRI fusion method, developed in the lab of CSAIL Senior Research Scientist Aude Oliva, adeptly captures the brain’s spatial and temporal dynamics, overcoming the traditional constraints of either spatial or temporal specificity. The fusion method had a little help from its machine-learning friend, to better examine and compare the brain’s activity when looking at various images. They created a “representational matrix,” which is like a detailed chart, showing how similar neural responses are in various brain regions. This chart helped them identify the patterns of where and when the brain processes what we see.

Picking the conceptually similar image pairs with high and low memorability scores was the crucial ingredient to unlocking these insights into memorability. Lahner explained the process of aggregating behavioral data to assign memorability scores to images, where they curated a diverse set of high- and low-memorability images with balanced representation across different visual categories. 

Despite strides made, the team notes a few limitations. While this work can identify brain regions showing significant memorability effects, it cannot elucidate the regions’ function in how it is contributing to better encoding/retrieval from memory.

“Understanding the neural underpinnings of memorability opens up exciting avenues for clinical advancements, particularly in diagnosing and treating memory-related disorders early on,” says Oliva. “The specific brain signatures we’ve identified for memorability could lead to early biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. This research paves the way for novel intervention strategies that are finely tuned to the individual’s neural profile, potentially transforming the therapeutic landscape for memory impairments and significantly improving patient outcomes.”

“These findings are exciting because they give us insight into what is happening in the brain between seeing something and saving it into memory,” says Wilma Bainbridge, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, who was not involved in the study. “The researchers here are picking up on a cortical signal that reflects what’s important to remember, and what can be forgotten early on.” 

Lahner and Oliva, who is also the director of strategic industry engagement at the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, MIT director of the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, and CSAIL principal investigator, join Western University Assistant Professor Yalda Mohsenzadeh and York University researcher Caitlin Mullin on the paper. The team acknowledges a shared instrument grant from the National Institutes of Health, and their work was funded by the Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship via an Office of Naval Research grant, a National Science Foundation award, Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative award via an Army Research Office grant, and the EECS MathWorks Fellowship. Their paper is published in PLOS Biology.

[melvingaines]

Sit Still and Rest

A message for Akron Alliance Fellowship Church, Akron OH, Sunday, February 18, 2024. I woke up the other day and realized that last Tuesday was Fat Tuesday.  It didn’t occur to me right away even though at work we were being served paczki (pronounced ponch-kee) from my number one bakery, Stan’s in Northfield.  They had twenty-one different flavors available, but we had at work an assortment of…

[courtyard01]

Crafting Comfort: Creative Pursuits for Alzheimer's Patients

Explore the therapeutic benefits of creative expression with Crafting Comfort: Creative Pursuits for Alzheimer's Patients. This insightful resource delves into the positive impact of arts and crafts on individuals living with Alzheimer's, offering meaningful activities to promote engagement, self-expression, and emotional well-being in a supportive environment.

[rawabysj]

فعالية #أحتاجك لمرضى ألزهايمر 💜

بكلية الطب بالمدينة الجامعية للطالبات 💙🤍

[wellhealthhub]

Exploring the Enigmatic Realm of Type 4 Diabetes: Unraveling the Intricate Connection Between Diabetes and Brain Health

Discover the mysterious Type 4 Diabetes, an enigmatic and distinct form of diabetes that intertwines with the intricate workings of the brain. Uncover the multifaceted causes, intricate symptoms, cutting-edge treatment options, and innovative prevention strategies. Gain valuable insights into harmonizing blood glucose levels with cognitive health for optimal well-being. Delve into the depths of…

[munaeem]

what lifestyle and environmental factors can influence Alzheimer's risk in addition to genetics and family history?

Alzheimer’s disease is a complex condition influenced by various lifestyle and environmental factors, in addition to genetics and family history. Some of the known factors that can contribute to the risk of Alzheimer’s include: Physical exercise: Engaging in regular physical activity has been associated with a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Exercise promotes good cardiovascular…

[submalevolentgrace]

From the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists have raised concerns about the potential for long-term health problems linked to SARS-CoV-2 and warned repeated infections are likely to increase the risk. An association between COVID and cardiovascular disease emerged quickly. And now — almost exactly four years since the first case was discovered in Wuhan — a growing body of scientific research is cautiously linking the inflammation caused by a COVID infection to diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's as well as autoimmune conditions from bowel disease to rheumatoid arthritis. The virus has even been suggested to impact some pregnant women, associated with double the risk of premature delivery. As the eighth COVID wave hits Australia, experts are taking notice.

...

When the first wave of COVID patients began reporting loss of smell and taste, Barnham's radar went up. "Any time you see olfactory impairment it tells you that there's going to be neurological impact," he says. "Loss of smell is a cardinal, pre-clinical symptom of Parkinson's disease and it's been implicated in Alzheimer's disease as well." The fact that COVID patients reported loss of smell not only during the active phase of the disease, but as a persistent symptom, suggested to Barnham that longer-term health consequences were likely. Loss of smell is associated with loss of brain volume.