Validation of a Remediation Method for Memory Disorders Using Motor and Emotional Encoding in Patients With Alzheimer's Disease

Validation of a Remediation Method for Memory Disorders Using Motor and Emotional Encoding in Patients With Alzheimer's Disease (AD)

Memories are more robust when they are multitraced. This means that the more a piece of information is mediated by different sensory inputs, the more resistant it is to being forgotten. Many works in the field of embodied cognition show that new learnings are better recalled over the long term when they are learned during body mobilization. Other works show that musical stimulation could be a good way of eliciting physiological and emotional states more favorable to the memorization of new contents. However, to date, no studies have examined the positive effects of these two tools combined in Alzheimer's disease. The investigators suggest that it is possible to optimize memory in Alzheimer's disease by referring to their motor and emotional resources. The hypothesis is that information will be better recalled with multimodal enriched learning.

In a within subjects design, all patients take part in four conditions. In each condition, sentences describing actions will be displayed. In a control condition, they will be asked to read the sentence aloud; in a motor-only condition, they will also be asked to mime the sentence; in an emotional-only condition, they will be asked to read the sentence while listening to music; and in a dual condition, they will be asked to both mime and listen to music. Immediately after each condition, they will realize a recognition task. The main criterion used in our statistical analyses will be the discrimination threshold.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease by one of the consulting physicians, neurologist and/or geriatrician of whom the patient has been informed.
• Early stage (MMSE ≥ 22)
• Neuropsychological assessment within 6 months of inclusion.
• Affiliation with a social security scheme
• Age equal to or greater than 60
• French mother tongue
• Agreement to participate / signature of consent form

Exclusion Criteria:

• Uncorrected perceptual disorders
• Other neurological or psychiatric history
• Inability to communicate
• Delusional or psychotic state
• Person unable to give informed consent
• Refusal to participate
• Participation in a study on a drug/medical device/care technique likely to affect cognitive functions