This slideshow was assigned by Peggy Mason in the Coursera course: Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Living.

1. Submitted by Christy Lyons
July 18, 2014

2. Dementia is a name for progressive brain
syndromes which affect memory, thinking,
behaviour and emotion.
Symptoms may include:
- loss of memory
- difficulty in finding the right words or
understanding what people are saying
- difficulty in performing previously routine
tasks
- personality and mood changes

3. Dr. Mason discussed Alzheimer’s, a major
type of Dementia in a Lab during Week 4.
Dementia is a disease that affected 44.4
million people worldwide in 2013[1].
There is a new case of dementia somewhere
in the world every 4 seconds [1].
The number of patients with dementia are
expected to triple by 2050 [1].

4. - Dementia involves the loss of
nerve cells.
- Since there are nerve cells
throughout the brain, the loss of
nerve cells in different areas of
the brain will affect individuals
differently.
- This presentation will focus
only a couple of areas: the
temporal lobe and the
hippocampus.
http://www.today.colostate.edu/story.aspx?id=9857

5. There are
approximately 100
billion nerve cells or
neurons in the brain. http://www.geek.com/geek-cetera/our-
brains-forget-information-at-a-rate-of-1-bit-
per-second-per-neuron-1308566/
http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/braintour

6. The temporal lobe is
the portion of the
cerebral cortex that:
- recognizes faces
- perceives (hearing,
vision, smell)
- understands
language
- has emotional
reactions http://www.drzukiwski.com/brain-function/

7. The hippocampus is
the part of the brain
that allows us to
make new,
declarative
memories: both
semantic and
episodic. Healthy Hippocampus
(From Dr. Mason’s Week 4 Video)

8. Describe the functions of the
nervous system that are
apparent or impaired in your
example.

9. Brain cells are generally
not replaced.
As more and more brain
cells die, the brain starts
to shrink.

10. Impairments in the
temporal lobe have been
traced to Alzheimer’s.
People with damage to
the temporal lobe suffer
difficulties in face
recognition and object
recognition.
Long- and short-term
memory loss.
Aggression
The Temporal Lobe of a
Dementia Patient
(Week 4 – Peggy Mason)

11. Damage to the
hippocampus causes:
- severe memory
impairment
- disorientation
- it may also cause
depression
Healthy Hippocampus
(Week 4)
Hippocampus of Dementia
Patient (Week 4)

12. The stream of information from the
entorhinal cortex, through the dentate gyrus
to the hippocampus is called the perforant
path.
The entorhinal cortex is one of the first areas
of the brain to show signs of Alzheimer’s
disease.
The entorhinal cortex is associated with self-
localization as well as declarative memory.

13. Explain in detail the ways in
which this course has allowed
you to better analyze the events
and phenomena around you.

14. My 97-year-old
grandmother has had
dementia for at least
the last 7 years.
She was a
bookkeeper with an
excellent memory.

15. Watching her deteriorate has had a
profound impact on our family; particularly
my mother.
She has periods where she cannot
recognize my sister-in-law or cousin’s
boyfriend who’ve been around for the last
10 and 4 years, respectively.
Less frequently, she doesn’t know who me,
my brother or even my mother and uncle
are.

16. She will ask a question and 3 minutes later ask
the same question and then 5 minutes later,
repeat it again. (Short-term memory loss)
While at the cottage, she will be angry that the
family is there, because she is expecting
company, but when she’s queried on who the
company is she won’t recall. She’s forgotten
that she sold the cottage to my mom and uncle
15 years ago. (Aggression and long-term
memory loss)

17. One time, I was visiting with Nana and she
asked me if my husband was stationed in St.
John and if I’d taken the trolley to see her.
(Prosopagnosia) Explanation: She met my
grandfather during WWII and they lived on the
east coast.
This course has helped me to understand more
clearly the physiological changes occurring in
my grandmother, why she is behaving the way
she is, and hopefully be more empathetic.

18. [1] Dementia Statistics. Alzheimer’s Disease
International. Retrieved from:
http://www.alz.co.uk/research/statistics
[2] 3D Brain Ap produced by Cold Spring
Harbor Laboratory DNA Learning Center.
[3] Peggy Mason’s The Neurobiology of
Everyday Living Videos.