[Daily life disability associated with dementia].

Daily life disability associated with dementia including Alzheimer disease involves a series of difficulties in performing daily tasks. People with this disability have difficulty in being active individually, participating in society, and carrying out daily tasks. Evidence suggests that its causes are lesions in specific areas of the brain. For example, focal lesions appear to be specifically correlated with symptoms of apraxia and agnosia. In general, cognitive decline in the course of dementing illnesses worsens as brain lesions expand. This may be accompanied by the impairment of other organs. However, brain lesions appear to be the overall cause of daily life disability associated with dementia. There are three basic measures that can be taken in response to daily life disability : first, analysis of normal daily life activities ; next, the observation of how the activities of people with dementia deviate from the normal pattern ; and finally, collecting information on caregivers' effective practices to appropriately respond to these deviations. Care for daily life disability associated with dementia should aim to maximize the performance of people with dementia based on their existing abilities. To do this, it is important to recognize disruptions to the normal flow of activity, and understand clues pointing to the causes of these disruptions. In order to examine the daily life disability associated with dementia, we conducted preliminary experiments on the background brain activity. For this purpose, capsaicin derived from red pepper was used to stimulate taste bud receptors on the tongue. During this physiological process, we examined the response within the brain, and observed activity in specific brain regions. For further studies on the background of the disability, we will use fMRI and magnetoencephalography.