Visual problems caused by Alzheimer's

1999/05/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Medikuntza

People with Alzheimer's often get lost as if they forget where they go. So far it was considered that this problem was due to lack of memory, but it seems that the reason is due to a visual problem and not to memory problems.

The visual problem called “Blindness with Movements” means that patients don’t get the feeling of movement well and lose orientation, according to a neurological group at Rochester University. It has therefore been shown that Alzheimer's disease affects not only memory, but also percussion.

The team of scientists at Rochester University has tested the processing of visual information by Alzheimer's patients, moving light points on a large screen using a computer. The normal person, seeing the points of light, would feel a sense of forward motion, similar to the one we receive when we go in snowy car. However, Alzheimer's patients have a great difficulty perceiving this feeling of movement.