Featured Article: Memories Impact How Alzheimer’s Patients Think, Feel and Act

By: Bob DeMarco Alzheimer’s Reading Room

Alzheimer’s caregivers can have a profound influence on the emotional state of individuals with living with dementia. In short, while patients living with Alzheimer’s disease might not remember recent events, they can still remember how events in their lives made them feel.


I hope you will take the time to read and absorb the information in the research summary presented below. This is both good and important new for caregivers and those in the healthcare industry that work with patients living with dementia.

It is my belief that each and every action we perform as caregivers has a cumulative effect on the behavior and mental well being of our loved one’s living with dementia.

We can change the way an Alzheimer’s person behaves, how they interact with us, and we can change their overall demeanor. This is accomplished in part by engaging in activities that bring positive emotional experiences into the lives of those who are deeply forgetful.

Even something as simple as a toy repeat parrot brought happiness into the life of my mother, Dotty, who lived with Alzheimer’s disease. He made her laugh and smile, and he interacted with her in what was a real and meaningful way. This translated into positive emotion and a better life experience for both of us.

Please consider these important findings and conclusions from the study.

The fact that forgotten events can continue to exert a profound influence on a patient’s emotional life highlights the need for caregivers to avoid causing negative feelings and to try to induce positive feelings.

“Our findings should empower caregivers by showing them that their actions toward patients really do matter.”

“Frequent visits and social interactions, exercise, music, dance, jokes, and serving patients their favorite foods are all simple things that can have a lasting emotional impact on a patient’s quality of life and subjective well-being.”

Alzheimer’s patients can still feel the emotion long after the memories have vanished

The Gist
A University of Iowa study further supports an inescapable message:

Caregivers can have a profound influence—good or bad—on the emotional state of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease.

People with Alzheimer’s may not remember a recent visit by a loved one or having been neglected by staff at a nursing home, but those actions can have a lasting impact on how they feel.

The Findings
Despite the considerable amount of research aimed at finding new treatments for Alzheimer’s, no drug has succeeded at either preventing or substantially influencing the disease’s progression.

Quite strikingly, the less the patients remembered about the films, the longer their sadness lasted.

The Conclusions
While sadness tended to last a little longer than happiness, both emotions far outlasted the memory of the films.

The fact that forgotten events can continue to exert a profound influence on a patient’s emotional life highlights the need for caregivers to avoid causing negative feelings and to try to induce positive feelings.

“Our findings should empower caregivers by showing them that their actions toward patients really do matter,” says Guzmán-Vélez, who was a Summer Research Opportunities Program student in 2008.

“Frequent visits and social interactions, exercise, music, dance, jokes, and serving patients their favorite foods are all simple things that can have a lasting emotional impact on a patient’s quality of life and subjective well-being.”

Bob DeMarco is the Founder of the Alzheimer’s Reading Room (ARR). Bob is a recognized expert, writer, speaker, and influencer in the Alzheimer’s and Dementia Community worldwide. The ARR Knowledge Base contains more than 4,500 articles. Bob was a caregiver for his mother Dotty for 8 years until her death in 2012. He lives in Delray Beach, FL. ■