Chinese calligraphic handwriting: treatment of cognitive deficiencies in Alzheimer's disease patients

The present study aimed to demonstrate whether Chinese calligraphic handwri ting (CCH) could help normal aged people or probable Alzheimer's disease (p AD) patients by altering and enhancing some of their symptoms and disorders . When assessing Clinical Memory Scales, the results showed that both spati al ability and pictorial memory were enhanced after normal aged participant s (n=66) wrote Chinese characters with specified visual-spatial forms conta ining directionality for 30 min, and that longterm practitioners of CCH imp roved in spatial ability but not in pictorial memory. Mild to moderate pAD patients (n=28) benefited in short-term memory, drawing, verbal orientation , and motor co-ordination after a 30-min CCH session after assessment using Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). It was found that the performance of mild to moderate Alzheimer patients (n=9) on picture free-recall and compu ting also improved in MMSE score after a 30-day CCH training schedule. CCH may prove useful in improving language, attention and hand-eye co-ordinatio n in mild to moderate AD patients without the need for drug or hormone ther apy.