Cognitive training in Alzheimer's dementia

Memory rehabilitation in dementia patients is gaining importance. Among the increasing number of people affected by Alzheimer's dementia (AD), the number detected in early stages of the disease is growing disproportionately quickly. The reasons are obvious: improved clinical assessment in the initial disease stage, increased sensitization of the elderly towards cognitive deficits, and the prescription of drugs retarding cognitive decline. Given the limited success of early training programs in the 1980s, skepticism towards cognitive training in dementia is still common among clinicians. However, recent international studies in the field give reason for cautious optimism. Memory therapy in the early-to-moderate stages of AD can be successful, if it is tailored to patients' individual daily problems and based on their residual cognitive capacities. The present paper gives an overview of recent findings in clinical and cognitive neuroscience which have led to a conceptual change in the memory rehabilitation of patients with dementia. Based on a review of general principles and rehabilitation techniques proven successful in recent research, recommendations are formulated for future studies evaluating cognitive therapy in dementia.