Neuroscientist Dr Richard Restak has authored numerous books on several aspects of the human brain, including two New York Times Best Sellers. His latest is How To Prevent Dementia: An Expert’s Guide To Long-Term Brain Health, where he opens up the conversation looking for signs of Alzheimer’s Disease.
In it, Dr Restak, billed as a leading authority on brain health and neurology, talks about the two fundamental lines of inquiry when approaching the question of Alzheimer’s, or dementia, diagnosis.
He considers two things when it comes to an Alzheimer’s diagnosis
Note that these aren’t questions he asks his patients, but lines of inquiry he considers when dealing with a patient. Key to both of them is the notion that Alzheimer’s, and other forms of dementia, cause disruptions in the “regularity and predictability” of a sufferer’s experience of reality.
So the first question he considers is: Is the patient behaving differently? Or questions synonymous to this. Is there something different about their general demeanor? Are they approaching situations in a way that’s unfamiliar to those around them?
“Alzheimer’s and other dementias represent perturbations in that regularity and predictability,” he writes. How To Prevent Dementia came out in late 2023.
“Most people by adulthood have established a distinct behavioral repertoire.” Dementia and other memory-affecting conditions disrupt and interfere with that repertoire. They affect behavior in a way that’s noticeable to anyone familiar with the sufferer.
The second question is only necessary if the answer to the first is yes
If the patient, or potential patient, is behaving in a way that seems unusual, the followup question is: Does the change in behavior interfere with their daily life? Is it getting in the way of their personal relationships?
“Repetitive and emotionally excessive expressions (shouting or even more aggressive behavior, including physical outbursts) rarely increase in frequency during normal aging,” he explains. In other words, people don’t tend to get more aggressive as they get older.
But people suffering a memory-affecting disorder such as dementia might.
It’s important to understand, then, that simply looking out for forgetfulness from your loved one might cause you to miss something. Forgetfulness can manifest in numerous ways. Someone who finds themselves forgetting things on a regular basis, in a way that feels unusual and frustrating, might mask this by acting out.
So looking for changes in behavior can be a better litmus test than watching out for more obvious signs of memory loss.
Dr Restak’s tips for protecting your memory as you get older
There are a number of things experts advise doing to lower the chances of developing Alzheimer’s in later life. In 2022, The New York Times wrote about Dr Restak’s book The Complete Guide To Memory, and outlined six of the neuroscientist’s tips for maintaining a healthy memory and reducing the risk of dementia.
They include engaging in regular, everyday memory challenges. These can be as simple as not using a grocery list when you go to the store. Or running through the locations of various things in your house or apartment.
He also advocates playing games, especially 20 Questions; reading novels; resisting technology; and, if it feels like the right thing to do, working with a mental health professional. Depression can decrease memory. Stress can be harmful to the constitution and what clinician and author Gabor Mate calls the “bodymind”. So dealing with mental health challenges can have positive knock-on effects on memory plasticity and reliability.
The book also included information about looking after your hearing, and drinking less alcohol (or none at all), among the list of Dr Restak’s pointers for the development and upkeep of a healthy working memory.
Neuroscientist Dr Richard Restak has authored numerous books on the human brain. His most recent published work, How To Prevent Dementia: An Expert’s Guide To Long-Term Brain Health, was published in October 2023.
