Early Alzheimer’s doesn’t end the ability to learn

People diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease may be able to learn more effectively than scientists previously thought, new studies suggest.

Researchers at the University of Miami School of Medicine and Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach used memory-enhancement and practical exercises to help patients with mildly impaired mental functions associate names with faces and make change for purchases. Three months later, the patients were able to perform those tasks better than patients who were mentally stimulated by playing word games and hangman.

The results were published in the July-August issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

In a separate study in the June 10 issue of the journal Neuron, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis found that patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s were able to recognize words they were shown earlier in the day faster than words they had not yet seen.

“I think it was kind of assumed the brain was not able to learn anything new at this stage,” said Neil Buckholtz, a dementia researcher at the National Institute on Aging, which funded the studies. “That’s not necessarily the case.”

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-- Kelly Young