The Tangled Neuron

Memory Bridge: A Talk with Michael Verde

I started this blog to report on the work of Alzheimer's scientists, but I keep running into the work of another group.  This loosely connected collection of historians, social workers, people with memory loss and others is focused on recognizing that persons with memory loss are valuable members of society.  I guess it's not surprising that this group often takes a larger view of Alzheimer's and dementia.

Michael Verde

Michael Verde is definitely someone who thinks about the big picture.  He is the founder and President of Memory Bridge, a Chicago-based foundation working to connect people who have Alzheimer's with family, friends and community.  Two of his grandparents had dementia.

Since its beginnings in 2004, Memory Bridge has produced the PBS documentary There Is a Bridge, developed a program partnering junior high and high school students with people with Alzheimer's, created an interview guide for cognitively impaired participants in the Veteran's History Project and launched an art exhibit containing maps of the lives of people with Alzheimer's. 

My Brain Age is 80: Cognitive Testing

Summary:  Cognitive Drug Research Ltd. plans to offer web-based cognitive testing to individuals.  A poor result on this test might encourage someone to seek further testing, or try to improve his overall health.  But I'm not sure what my own score means in terms of everyday life, or whether the commercially available brain fitness programs would improve my score.

My brain age is 80, at least according to the test posted on Portfolio.com.  To find out why I scored thirty years older than my actual age, and what it might mean, I contacted Cognitive Drug Research Ltd. (CDR), the company that developed the test.

"This is the attentional subset of our cognitive test system," said Professor Keith Wesnes, CEO of CDR.  "The attention tests measure your ability to focus, process information and sustain attention.  While memory loss is the classical symptom of the dementias, our research has shown that poor attention is an important deficit in Alzheimer's disease as well as memory loss, and that in other types of dementia, for example Lewy Body Dementia and Parkinson's dementia, it is one of the central deficits."

Flurizan, Lipitor and Alzhemed: Negative Study Results

On Monday, Myriad Genetics Inc. announced the failure of Flurizan in Phase III trials.  This news follows the results from the LEADe study showing the cholesterol drug Lipitor did not benefit Alzheimer's patients, and the failure of Alzhemed in Phase III trials last year.

With all this disappointing news, it seems more important than ever for professionals, with input from patients and their families, to talk about new approaches to Alzheimer's research and care.  Maybe implementing some of the ideas discussed at the National Institute on Aging 2006 conference would help.  I'll be at ICAD (the International Conference on Alzheimer's disease) in late July - it will be interesting to see whether new approaches are widely discussed.