DQ 2

If we learn what we remember and remember what we learn, provide a neurological

explanation--the best you can with current findings--of why people with Alzheimer's
disease forget what they have learned and may have known for decades.
Alzheimers disease in the beginning is a type of dementia, meaning small memory loss.
This process is named as cognitive decline and people start failing to remember names, phone
numbers, directions etc. and then over time the symptoms gets worse and it becomes
Alzheimers disease. Memory loss can be rapid in some people and slow in some of them. This
disease damages brain cells, so communication between them is low, which causes memory loss.
In Alzheimers disease, the first thing noticed is memory loss. The patient starts forgetting small
things such as names, short term events, dates and in long run all old and precious memories can
be deleted from brain (Carlson, 2013).
Between two cells, there is a highway from which and through neurotransmitters or
communication is done, and that highway is called a synapse. This part plays a key role to form
memories. Whatever we learn with our five senses is formed into memories into our brain
(Howard, 2013). These memories people use for years and years but they are always there when
recalled, and this happens with healthy people who have a healthy mind and do not have brain
de-generation, meaning there cells are healthy and not dying. In the case of Alzheimers, those
memories are faded away. How memory is formed and how is gone is still a big question for
neuroscience.
The brain is one of the important parts of the body. The brain has many cells and these
cells are called neurons. These neurons are the message carriers in the brain. They carry and
communicate messages between neurons which imprint the memory into the brain. Between two
neurons there is a pathway called the synapse, where these neurons communicate. Dr. Korb and
Finkbeiner explain that protein arches helps our brain to form new memories (Howard, 2013).
Protein arches control the memory process in the brain and this was found in the gene.
Sometimes this gene is responsible for epileptic seizers also. This protein works by forming the
memory as well. New studies tells that this protein is formed in the synapse and end up in the
nucleus. Dr. Korb is still continuing her study about how this protein helps forming memories
and why they are lost (Howard, 2013).

References
Carlson, N. R. (2013). Physiology of behavior. (11th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon
Howard, G. (2013, June 9). How Do We Learn and Remember? Retrieved October 30, 2014,
from http://gladstoneinstitutes.org/node/11302

Mayeux, R. (2007, March 1). Publications & Multimedia. Retrieved October 30, 2014, from
http://www.dana.org/Publications/GuideDetails.aspx?id=49989