Imaging of New Learning in Severe Alzheimer's Disease Patients

This research attempts to better understand the altered and preserved memory mechanisms in Alzheimer disease, particularly to better apprehend learning implicit memory processes, and give a scientific support to non-pharmalogical interventions. At the present time, it is possible to delay the emergence of the symptoms related to this disease, eventually to decrease it, but not to cure it. Yet, care these patients became a crucial question and the solutions proposed to healthy aging people are not appropriate for Alzheimer patients who present specific disorders. The improvement of the quality of life of the institutionalized patients lies on a better comprehension of their disorders but also of their preserved abilities. The literature testifies of a great heterogeneity in the clinical expression of this disease, however we noticed two constants with regard to the capabilities generally announced as being preserved, on one hand, the implicit memory, and on the other hand the artistic aptitudes, and more particularly musical capabilities. Patients with Alzheimer disease present a particularly severe and early deterioration of episodic memory. Thus, at the beginning of the disease the explicit acquisition of new knowledge becomes increasingly difficult. However, some clinical observations, such as new learning of unknown songs, even with patients at a severe stage of the illness, seem to support the assumption of a preservation of some implicit learning abilities. Indeed, several studies already showed preserved implicit memory capabilities among patients with Alzheimer disease, mostly at the beginning stage of the illness: preserved effects of perceptual priming, procedural learning. Thus, we are mainly interested by the effects of exposure and the rising of a feeling of familiarity, both showing preserved implicit learning abilities, for moderate to severe Alzheimer patients. However, no study was carried out to date using the neuroimaging techniques, among Alzheim