Alzheimer's and memory decline

Memory decline is rarely one failure. Retrieval, working memory and sequencing are different jobs in different systems, and support only gets specific once you know which one is slipping.

Memory is not one system

Retrieval and short holds are different jobs in different places, and they do not decline at the same rate.

Temporal lobes

Information retrieval, and the auditory sequential memory that holds a name or an instruction long enough to store it.

Parietal lobes

Working memory and visual sequential memory, the short holds that everything else runs on.

The Magnificent 7 is the work of Dr. Lisé DeLong. Copyright © 2013, all rights reserved.

What people describe

Memory is not one function, and support only gets specific once you know which part is slipping.

  • Losing a name that was there a second ago
  • Reaching a room and not knowing why
  • Instructions holding for one step and not two
  • Recognising a face without recovering the context

How we work with it

Start with an assessment

The Individualized NeuroDevelopmental Profile is the entry point, and it can be completed by the person themselves or by a primary caregiver on their behalf. Developmental Milestones does not apply here; it runs birth through seventy-two months.

Then the work itself

For this presentation that usually means Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy, structured therapy after injury, illness or decline. Where a pathway can still be reinforced, we reinforce it. Where it cannot, compensatory strategies build a working route around it. We will not tell you the first is possible when it is not.

Questions people ask

What people ask about memory decline, including the one we will not overpromise on.

Can cognitive rehabilitation reverse Alzheimer's?

No, and we will not tell you otherwise. Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy is a medically recognized intervention to restore, optimize and protect function. Where a pathway cannot be rebuilt, compensatory work builds a route around it.

Compensatory strategies are useful at any stage, because they work with what is still available, whether or not it can be rebuilt.

The Individualized NeuroDevelopmental Profile can be completed by the individual or by a primary caregiver on their behalf.

Take something home with you

Between sessions is where most of the work happens. These are the downloads and the journal we hand to clients, sold through our storefront.

My “Lived-Experience” Journal

Handwriting reaches memory and emotional processing along pathways typing does not. Shipped inside the US.

$14.95 USD

Music for Wellness

Ambient soundscapes recorded with violinist Cathy Morris, for quieting a busy mind into a calm focus.

$19.95 USD

Package of 3 Neurofeedback Videos, 45 minute

The same three settings cut to 45 minutes, for a session that runs long or follows an autogenics track.

$49.95 USD

Prices in USD, as published in the storefront. Checkout, delivery and support for anything on this shelf run through store.cognitive-connections.com.

Find out which part of memory is slipping

Retrieval, working memory and sequencing are three different jobs. Support that names the right one is worth more than support that names none.