As the world is quickly aging, the prevalence of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and other dementias is also rapidly growing. AD is a neurodegenerative disease that gradually destroys one’s ability to learn, reason, and carry out daily activities. Memory impairment is the most prominent cognitive symptom of AD and can influence individuals' ability to live independently from the early stages of the disease. Compounding this, despite many promising advances made in the pharmacological treatment of AD, there is yet no treatment that can halt the disease. Non-pharmacological interventions are powerful solutions to help manage cognitive and functional symptoms of AD. However, there are still many challenges to the development of effective strategies. Firstly, little is known about the influence of distinct types of memory symptoms, such as false memories, on the daily life function of AD patients. Secondly, easy-to-use in-vivo biomarkers to detect AD and map disease progression patterns are still lacking making it challenging to implement strategies early on and target the stage of disease and pattern of cognitive impairment. In this dissertation, I will explore current advances made in AD research and outline some of the work done on the influence of false memories on the daily life of patients with AD. I will also investigate the use of Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) to help the diagnosis and characterization of AD. I will examine the feasibility and effectiveness of two behavioral interventions to sustain memory and cognition in AD patients: remote social interactions and a digital home-based cognitive training program. The results of this dissertation will shed light on how behavioral interventions can help sustain daily life function in AD patients, and they will bring forth novel research approaches that can be used to maximize the effectiveness of behavioral strategies. / 2026-02-20T00:00:00Z
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/48159 |
| Date | 20 February 2024 |
| Creators | Marin, Anna |
| Contributors | Budson, Andrew E. |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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