Retained neuropsychological abilities of individuals with Alzheimer's disease.

Individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) retain certain cognitive abilities over the course of the disease. In this article, we describe retained cognitive-linguistic abilities and the status of activities of daily living (ADLs) of individuals in the early, middle, and late stages of AD. Knowledge of preserved abilities in AD is necessary for clinicians to structure communication-stimulation programs and to train caregivers in the most effective ways to facilitate communication. Using the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) for staging severity of AD, an outline of preserved abilities by disease stage is provided. Attention, memory, and communication abilities are discussed, and samples of discourse from patients at different stages are included.