What Can People With Alzheimer’s Remember?
If you’ve ever read or watched The Notebook, you know Allie. She was the main character who — we eventually discover — is living with late-stage Alzheimer’s. In one powerful scene, she sits at the piano and suddenly begins to play a piece by Chopin with the skill and precision of her pre-Alzheimer’s self. Does this happen in real life? The answer might surprise you.
In the decades before symptoms appear, Alzheimer’s slowly destroys neurons and the connections between neurons in parts of the brain involved in memory and learning, making it hard to form new memories and learn new information. While the order and progression are different from person to person, Alzheimer’s generally affects the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex first, then the cerebral cortex, and onto the temporal, parietal, and frontal lobes. More memories are lost, language becomes a challenge, and it gets harder to recognize objects and faces.
As the disease spreads through the brain, it primarily affects something called declarative knowledge. Declarative knowledge (also known as explicit memory) is all about “knowing that.” Knowing that my daughter’s name is Susan. Knowing that I live on Elm Street. Knowing that fish live in water. Knowing that London is the capital of England. Declarative knowledge involves intentionally and consciously recalling personal experiences and…
