EP108: Emotions, Memory, and Alzheimer's Disease

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You may recall that Maya Angelou said something along the lines of “people will forget what you say, they will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel”. Well, there’s a reason for that and that’s what I’m going to talk about today.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We can all use the concept of emotional memories to make new memories or to recall old ones. We can create moments that last a lifetime around positive feelings and boost our overall mental health – and if you are a caregiver for a person living with Alzheimer’s disease, understanding how emotions can impact your interactions is key.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Take a deeper dive at how emotions, memory and Alzheimer's disease are interlinked in this another valuable of This Is Getting Old: Moving Towards An Age-Friendly World. Tune in to</span> <strong>Episode 108: Emotions, Memory, and Alzheimer's Disease</strong><span style= "font-weight: 400;">, and together let’s strive to make this world a better place for older adults.</span></p> <h1><strong>Key points covered in this episode: </strong></h1> <h2><strong>✔</strong><strong>️ Memories Attached to Emotions are Stronger</strong></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Emotions are tied to memories. In fact, memories tied to strong feelings, whether positive or negative, tend to last longer and don't fade as fast or disappear as quickly. </span></p> <h2><strong>✔️ A Person with Advanced Alzheimer's Disease may Mimic the Emotions Of Those Around Them</strong></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In Alzheimer's disease, emotions remain intact. Hence, they will lose the ability to use and understand language, but our nonverbal behavior often communicates how we're feeling. As a result, even a person with very advanced Alzheimer's disease will be able to pick up on our emotional state. So whatever we feel as caregivers can be still be sensed by a person with advanced Alzheimer's disease, whether we wanted th