Not Feeling as Sharp Lately? Is It Something Serious Like Alzheimer’s Disease?
By Katie Garvey
What Is Neuropsychology and Alzheimer’s Disease?
As most age, they tend to not feel as “sharp” as they once were, and this is a common finding in older adults. However, there is also another more dangerous persistent finding in older adults, Alzheimer’s disease, which requires a professional to diagnose. There is a major importance of neuropsychological testing in the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. When one sees the word “neuropsychological testing” accompanied by “Alzheimer’s disease” they might immediately become intimidated, thinking, “I can’t read something like that, I don’t understand science!” Well, fortunately, it doesn’t have to be intimidating or something that the average adult cannot understand. Starting off, neuropsychology can be defined as the study of the brain and how the brain can impact human’s thoughts, feelings, and how we act. Now, knowing what neuropsychology means, it is time to talk about Alzheimer’s disease and its relationship to neuropsychology. Talking about Alzheimer’s can be very scary and is something that most people will shy away from. However, it is an important subject to talk about because its occurrence is increasing and knowledge about the disease is key to an early detection, “14-16 million or more could have AD by 2050 if no cure is found” (Buchanan, 2019).
Alzheimer’s disease is a disease of the brain that causes the formation of plaques and tangles, as well as eats away at the brain. Imagine the plaques in the brain as holes that start to form and the tangles as ropes that you cannot seem to untie. As these plaques and tangles start to form, they destroy healthy brain tissue. As shown in the picture above, just by looking at both brains, it does not take a medical doctor to decide which brain is the “healthy” brain, and which brain is the “diseased” brain affected by Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease destroys people’s thinking abilities. When the thinking abilities are destroyed it affects their attention (the ability to focus), memory (the ability to remember something), and language (the ability to speak).
In order to help you gain a better and more personal understanding of what this might look and feel like, please take a second to consider the following scenario; “You and your mom are really close and do everything together, and one day you come home and she does not recognize who you are. She cannot even remember your name.” This is one scenario that families with a loved one suffering from this disease experience on a daily basis. Since there is no cure, this disease will eventually kill the people who are diagnosed. Most people who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease fall into the late stage onset, occurring after the age of 65. However, it is rare, but some individuals can have early onset Alzheimer’s and are diagnosed with the disease before the age of 65. So, where do neuropsychology and Alzheimer’s disease connect? Neuropsychologists, or people who are specialists of neuropsychology, can run tests in order to help diagnose individuals with Alzheimer’s disease.
Neuropsychological Tests for Alzheimer’s Disease
There are many different neuropsychological tests that a neuropsychologist might run in order to confirm a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. As stated by Buchanan (2019), these tests can be used to evaluate the nature of the problem or what’s been going on with the individual, how long the problem has been occurring, the severity of symptoms, and the impact the problem has had on the affected individual. When performing different neuropsychological tests, it is also important to understand what the individual was like before the start of the disease. Here are some of the popular neuropsychological tests that help detect Alzheimer’s disease: WAIS digit span forward, Boston naming test, and pegboard test (Buchanan, 2019). Each one of these neuropsychological tests will measure different cognitive areas, or different human thinking areas.
Credit: Phenom High Performance Medicine
As you can see, the picture on the left, gives a good visual illustration of what some of the different human thinking areas of the mind are. When running the WAIS digit span forward test, the concept is relatively simple. The neuropsychologist will say numbers out loud and the patient has to repeat the numbers back to the neuropsychologist. This test measures simple attention, or the ability to focus. Next, the Boston naming test consists of the neuropsychologist showing the patient pictures and will ask the patient to identify what the pictures are by saying the names of the pictures out loud. The Boston naming test measures semantic memory or general world knowledge, verbal memory or the ability to say the answer out loud, and recall of each item or the ability to remember the answer and repeat the answer out loud. Lastly, the pegboard test is exactly what it sounds like, a pegboard. In the pegboard test, patients will have to insert the pegs given by the neuropsychologist into the correct spot in the board. The pegboard test measures the combination of sensory skills (e.g., touch, feel, see) with motor skills (e.g., physical movement). These tests are not the only neuropsychological tests that can test for Alzheimer’s disease, but they are the popular ones. These tests are not overly difficult to understand, and can have an intimidating label. However, it’s important to keep in mind that just because these tests may not be difficult to understand, some of them can become very difficult to perform if one were to have Alzheimer’s disease.
Why Do We Care, It’s Not Like There Is a Cure?
There are many reasons why we care about diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease, especially earlier on. Knowledge is the key to everything! Without knowledge, it is hard to confront and deal with any given life situation. This is no different when it comes to Alzheimer’s disease. When families find out a loved one has Alzheimer’s disease, often times they can make the appropriate changes that are necessary. These changes can range from emotional changes (e.g., understanding that your loved one is becoming someone else due to a disease and not because they are doing it on purpose), to physical changes (e.g., make sure the doors are always locked, restricting access to the appliances such as the stove to keep one safe). Another important reason to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease is because the earlier the diagnosis, the more likely the individual will decline less rapidly due to the interventions that may take place shortly after the diagnosis. With a lessened mental decline, this will keep the individual at home longer. This is an important emotional factor for families since they do not want to put their loved ones in a memory care unit (a living environment catered for those with memory difficulties). These are all important reasons we care about diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease, especially earlier on.
The Take Home Message
The major take home message is that if you or a loved one are starting to experience memory problems or showing possible signs of Alzheimer’s disease, it is important to attend to these changes right away with the help from neuropsychologists. It is important to note that I am not qualified to diagnosis and treat, however, I am qualified to spread the word! Even if there is no cure for the disease, attending to these difficulties earlier on with a series of neuropsychological tests can lead to lessened mental decline due to the possibility of earlier interventions. There are many ways to determine if one has Alzheimer’s disease, however, the most effective way is with the help from a neuropsychologist and the tests they can perform. If it is Alzheimer’s disease you or a loved one are experiencing, ignoring the signs and symptoms will not lead to a better outcome. Ignoring the symptoms will not stop the disease, especially since the disease is on the rise and affecting more and more people every day! Talking about Alzheimer’s doesn’t have to be scary, it just has to be important. The goal in talking about Alzheimer’s disease should be to provide people with enough information to seek help, get a diagnosis if appropriate, and allow them to understand that they can receive support. There is support for everything in life, however, the support can only take place if one wants to open their eyes to notice that yes, there might just be a problem, and seek help.
Resources
Buchanan, J. (2019). Alzheimer’s Disease handout [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Website.
Cowan, C. (2017). Nootropics! (Focus, memory, mental sharpness) [Picture 1].
Ridout, A. (2018). Dementia or mental illness? [Picture 2].
U.S Department of Veterans Affairs. (2012). Know the facts about alzheimer’s disease [Picture 3].