Lisa Genova spoke about the affects of the disease and how it makes people forget things such as where they have put their keys or maybe even what their keys are used for. She then gave the reason as to why people develop this disease which is the build up in between synpases. This build up occurs over time and gradually gets worse and the body is unable to clean it out. There is currently no medication to help with this or to cure the disease at all. So many people think that you have to keep using your brain as you get older or you will develop Alzheimer's which is not necessarily true, but it can be beneficial.
Lisa talks about a group of women who had developed Alzheimer's disease but did not show any symptoms before they passed away. How could this be? It is believed that the women had a high cognitive reserve which means that they had more synapses in their brains than normal. So the more synapses you have, the less likely you are to see the effects of this disease. She explains it in further detail by explaining that if you know her as an author, a Tedtalk spokeswoman and a neuroscientist and then develop Alzheimer's, you have a greater chance of remembering who she is because you have more than one synapse connecting your memory to who she is. So if the synapse of her being an author and a neuroscientist is destroyed, you still remember her from the Tedtalk.
I recommend anyone who studies or is interested in neurodegenerative diseases to watch this because this links back to neuroplasticity in the brain. This is a quick ~13 minute video with some really good information to think about with Alzhiemer's disease. The link is below and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
TED. (2017, May 19). What you can do to prevent Alzheimer's | Lisa Genova. Retrieved August 19, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twG4mr6Jov0
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