COMPUTER-SUPPORTED, INDIVIDUALIZED MEMORY TRAINING IN ALZHEIMERS PATIENTS

Memory training programs for cognitively impaired patients have often been criticized for their lack of relevance to every day activities. W e therefore report our experience with two patients suffering from pro bable Alzheimer's disease who were trained with a new computer-based p rogram recently developed by our research group. An everyday task of p ersonal relevance to the patient was simulated and trained on a PC tou ch-screen using personal photographs of the patient's surroundings and biography. The patient's training performance (time, mistakes, number of advices) improved substantially. While psychopathometric tests sho wed no significant effects with regard to general cognitive performanc e, levels of motivation were high and there was a positive acceptance of the training, signs of emotional activation and of a transfer of th e trained skills into real situations.