Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory

Alzheimer's Disease and Memory D
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Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an irreversible, progressive disorder that causes brain cells to degenerate and die. It slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and the ability to carry out simple routine tasks. This disease is prone to causing memory loss. In the advanced stages of the disease, someone with AD may not be able to remember familiar places, people or things. The complication from severe loss of brain functions like malnutrition and dehydration can result into death. In the early signs of the diseases, someone with Alzheimer’s may forget recent or immediate events and conversations. Overtime, the person develops server memory impairments and ability to carry out daily tasks.
Memory is a very complex thing and brain uses different memories to respond to different activities. The different types of memory include; working, episodic, semantic, prospective and procedural memories. These memories perform function of receiving, storing, encoding and retrieving information in the brain. In the early stages of the disease, the working and prospective memory are the most affected by the disease (Holger, 2013). As the disease progresses various parts of the brain become affected impacting the daily life of the person.
The Working Memory
This memory stores information for the short period of time. When someone develops AD, they may have difficulty in remembering information as a result have difficulty in completing tasks (Holger, 2013). The problem in this memory makes someone to take longer to figure out something.
Sensory Memory
This memory is the most severely affected. Someone with AD suffers a long-term damage. It affects the entire brain and disrupt the senses such as the ability to hear, taste, touch, see, and smell. As the disease progresses, the patient may not be able to remember what they saw, how things taste or smell and conversation that took place a short while ago. The impact of AD makes the sensory memory to disappear quickly, in some cases permanently.
Episodic Memory
This ...