Weeks 2&3

I decided to combine the efforts of the last two weeks into one post, as there was a continuity between them as they were both meant to reach the same goal of creating a profile for each of the residents I have chosen to study, identifying how their memory loss triggers, and what reactions they have to specific types of music or genres performed in different ways.

Mildred: Mildred is who I consider to be the highest functioning resident that I have worked with, and at first it was incredibly difficult for me to identify where her memory loss existed. During conversation, it seems as though she is just a normal old lady. However, when playing games of cards, I noticed that her memory loss was triggered by critical thinking, as she was unable to remember the rules of the game after switching from a solitaire styled game to something similar to a high card draw. She was constantly reverting back to solitaire throughout the second game, until we switched back to the original game. Mildred has problems with critical thinking and memory, rather than simply general retention, so I aim to design retention tests involving that kind of critical thinking. 

Tom: Tom is the next most functioning of the residents I'm researching, with strong conversation skills, but a much weaker memory of conversation itself. Tom's memory loss is triggered by the conversation or events moving too fast, such as when his wife and I were talking about his life and career, he was barely able to keep up, and was getting hung up on the fact that his wife said he could get an ice cream cone after going to his checkup. However, when I talked to him about his career again, at his pace, he was able to tell me exactly what he did and where he went without ever once getting hung up. I plan to design experiments with Tom and fast moving events, like the card game war, or talking with him at a different pace. 

Jeanette: Jeanette's profile is much more apparent than the previous two (which will be a consistent trend with the remaining residents). Jeanette has forgotten what her current living situation is, as she believes, at different times, that she is visiting a restaurant, staying in a hotel, and at a mall. She expresses her memory loss through these stories she concocts about where she is and why she is there, an instance of which was when she was experiencing arm pain, she crafted a story about how another resident, sometimes standing or in a wheelchair, hit her with a metal pipe. Since Jeanette's memory loss has little effort to reveal, I hope to design retention tests around music and talking, seeing how her stories become more or less consistent in musical environments, or by playing games of cards or bingo. 

Virginia: Virginia is a strange mixture of conscious that she is in a group home, but not exactly why. She believes she is there because she is about 90, and can tie all of her memory, walking, and staying awake issues to that. However, she also has moments of near total amnesia, where she will be wondering around without her walker, and completely forget where she is, where she is going, or anything related to her situation. As it seems that her main memory loss symptoms are triggered by something I have yet to determine, I will be designing simple experiments making use of music and card games to determine if there is any latent memory loss, and try to divulge what causes her amnesic episodes. 

As I was observing live performances over the last few weeks, I would like to log in a few of the more overt reactions, which Tom tends to be the largest proponent of, singing along constantly throughout the performances. Jeanette will sing along as well, but not on the same scale as Tom, and she is more interested in the performers than the performance. Mildred will sing along quietly to herself, but will make no outgoing and audible singing. Virginia mostly nods along and taps her foot, etc. I have also noticed that one of the lower functioning residents, Mo, has some fairly overt reactions to specific types of music, mainly blues and New Orleans inspired songs, so I'll be looking into her over the course of the next week.

Week 1

During my first week of interning I sought to identify a few residents that I could derive research from, and I've come up with a few names:

 Jeanette: Jeanette grew up in Chicago and moved to Arizona a while ago. She has a very strong personality, with very strong opinions, and can be easily aggravated by the other residents. Jeanette is a higher functioning resident, who retains reason and logic, but has very little context for her condition. She seems to think that her being at the residency home is not unlike a hotel, where she'll constantly be discussing how she's waiting to be taken home. Jeanette seems to have a lack of short term memory, where she won't remember my age or name, but she will spin stories about who I am without any suggestions on my part. She seems to react very passionately to the live performances and sings along to the lyrics.

Tom: I am not totally sure of Tom's past, because he is much harder to support conversation with. Tom will respond in either yes or no with a sentence or head motion, with limited ability to support a prolonged conversation. Tom can talk back and forth, but once  a conversation between people around him starts moving, he'll get hung up on a point of interest, and be unable to contribute actively afterward. For instance, when his wife came to visit at the same time as me, the three of us began talking about how Tom was going to go in to a doctor for a checkup later that day. She said Tom may get some ice cream after they went, and as the conversation moved to different topics , Tom would always reiterate that point of getting ice cream. I imagine that Tom lacks short term memory during a process of critical thinking, and I aim to test that portion later on.

Mildred: Mildred is originally from a farm in Wyoming. She grew up with some siblings but has so far been more focused on present than past. She seems to have developed an antisocial personality as a result of her memory loss, as she has devoted most of her time to her dog Bonita. She seems t mirror some of the traits of social recluses, where she'll mainly stay in her room outside of meals and live performances. She has issues initiating conversation, but outside of that her memory loss symptoms are less apparent than the others', so it will likely take more time to identify what they are.

Virginia: Grew up in North Carolina with three sisters, and has three daughters. Her daughters come to see her, butt live far enough away that it is not often. Virginia seems to lack both short term and long term memory, as I needed the caretakers to tell me details about her family and past that she could not remember. She doesn't hold interest easily, and will often doze off during group conversation. So far that is all I know regarding her, and as a result I will be researching her morein the future.

Inge: Was a German immigrant, given her age I wonder if she left during the time period of the Nazi regime or shortly after, but the memories of that time seem troubling to her, so I'm cautious to push any farther forward. She has a son and a daughter, and is very proud of them. She seems to have a unique reaction to a lack of memory, where she both laughs and cries, indicating that she has knowledge of her lack of memory but also is disappointed in herself. She seems to have both a lack of long term and short term memory, but retains her ability to think logically and support conversation.

I'll be on the lookout for any others who would yield interesting research, but this core group seems to be a good starting point.

Introduction

My project will detail the effects of many different forms of music and presentations of music on patients with memory loss. I will be spending time with and getting to know a collection of residents that I will research using specialized retention tests. These tests while differ based on each person, as memory loss and associated diseases effect each person differently.

These tests will include a collection of games (different forms of cards and puzzles) meant to test short term memory during periods of critical thinking, as well as conversationally to test longer term retention after I have a good knowledge base of each resident's pasts. I'll be running these tests in a variety of scenarios, some of which will include music from a CD player, personal headphones, and testing different time periods and genres of music. I will also be monitoring the reactions of the residents to the many different types of live performances incorporating music in either major, or minor ways.