Procedural memory and emotional attachment in Alzheimer disease: implications for meaningful and engaging activities

With an increasing number of older adults being diagnosed with Alzheimer disease, the need to find meaningful and enjoyable activities in which they can successfully engage is important for providing good quality of life while preventing behavioral difficulties that often accompany this diagnosis. Dementia-related neuropsychological impairments hinder engagement in a variety of enjoyable activities. For many older adults with Alzheimer disease who have been involved in a religious tradition, well-rehearsed rituals and emotionally salient behaviors can be employed well into the later stages of this disease. An approach called procedural and emotional religious activity therapy, or PERAT, can provide enjoyable and meaningful activities that may reduce agitation and increase quality of life for patients as well as for caregivers. Knowledge about the neuropsychology of procedural and emotional memory is needed to understand how PERAT works.