Feelings Without Memory in Alzheimer Disease

In a previous post, I mentioned the book Grace for the Unexpected Journey (Barr, 2018). It's a 60-day devotional for caregivers of people w/dementia. Today's message (Day 42: Feelings and Moments) included information about a research study (Guzmán-Vélez et al., 2014).

This study, Feelings Without Memory in Alzheimer Disease, found that PWD can continue to feel emotions like sadness or happiness long after the event that triggered those feelings has ended, even when they have little or no recall of the actual event itself. In the experiment, participants watched short emotional film clips. The researchers found that the PWD showed emotional responses that lasted well beyond their ability to recall the clips, suggesting that emotional experiences can be preserved even when details are forgotten.

In Grace for the Unexpected Journey, Barr's take on the study is that PWD can be influenced when caregivers create "brief moments of pleasure and happiness" (much like the short video clips in the study). In fact, Barr suggests that "the happy feeling generated by those moments can persist" and improve the behavior of PWD.

I don't know if it will improve DH's mindset or affect his behavior, but I do know that brief moments of laughter, or sparks of joy, certainly affect me. Several of the clips the study utilized were from America's Funniest Home Videos. So, I think I just found the answer to my post seeking a TV show for my DH (as Timmyd had already suggested).

Barr, D. (2018). Grace for the unexpected journey: A 60-day devotional for Alzheimer’s and other dementia caregivers. Moody Publishers.

Guzmán-Vélez, E., Feinstein, J. S., & Tranel, D. (2014). Feelings without memory in Alzheimer disease. Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, 27(3), 117–129. https://doi.org/10.1097/WNN.0000000000000020