Why do people with dementia forget things like people/events, but not things like the alphabet or relatively simple grammar? Or do they, and it’s just not really shown in western media?
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Principle of “first in, last out”. Alzheimer’s progression slowly erodes your memories and takes things you’ve learned more recently first. So older memories stay longest and in a sense people with Alzheimer’s are moving backward in time. You’ll find that things they learned in childhood stay the longest, but eventually the progression of the disease will take those memories too. In the end they revert back to being in a sense like infants again, who are no longer able to perform basic actions of self care. That’s why Alzheimer’s patients will not know their children but will still have manners, know grammar and their ABCs.
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