NARRATIVE INTENTIONS - LISTENING TO LIFE STORIES IN ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE

Persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD) experience progressive memory an d language losses. To assess how these losses influenced the ability t o share a personal narrative, we listened to the narratives of six per sons with AD and sh persons without cognitive losses. Narratives of pe rsons with AD were less chronologically organized, included repetition s, omitted salient events, and contained fewer detailed descriptions t han the comparison group participants. In addition, most members of th e AD group, and no members of the comparison group, sought assistance during the narrative task. Perhaps most significant, though, persons w ith AD were willing and able to complete the assignment-their assets a nd limitations as narrators of the self are described.