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Mentors Dr. Dawn Mechanic-Hamilton (left) and Dr. Roy Hamilton (back center) pose with Maria Florence Aquina Nabong (front left) and Catherine Norise.

By Joyce Lee

Medical students Catherine Norise and Maria Florence Aquino Nabong recently celebrated completion of the new Penn Minority Scholars in Aging Research program. 

Norise and Nabong, the program’s first two scholars, contributed to research on neurodegenerative diseases under the guidance of faculty mentors Roy Hamilton, assistant professor of neurology and co-director of the laboratory for cognition and neural stimulation, and Dawn Mechanic-Hamilton, assistant professor of neurology and director of cognitive fitness programs and neuropsychological services at PMC.

Join the Penn Memory Center on October 19 for a workshop with Philadelphia artist Patricia Moss-Vreeland exploring memory “as a meditation on who we are.”

3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine
Second Floor, South Pavilion
Philadelphia, PA 19104

RSVP before October 13 by contacting Felicia Greenfield at felicia.greenfield@uphs.upenn.edu.

The evidence for “brain games” benefitting long-term brain health is rather weak, according to a new statement from the Global Council on Brain Health (GCBH). While brain games can be entertaining, their benefits are often exaggerated by the companies that promote them.

Instead, the GCBH recommends engaging in mentally stimulating activities to help support and maintain memory, attention, and reasoning skills. Activities might include ones that challenge the way you think (e.g. learning a new language), boost your social engagement (e.g. mentoring in your community), or train your body along with your brain (e.g. playing tennis).

The benefits to maintaining a healthy schedule of physical activity for brain health are well known, but randomized control trials in the NIA study were inconsistent.

By Chloe Elmer

As drug trials for treating Alzheimer’s disease have repeatedly yielded negative results, the focus shifts to early-stage prevention. And one report said inconclusive evidence should not discourage adults from the healthy-brain strategies investigated.

By Chloe Elmer

As the cost of caregiving for the four-to-five million Americans currently living with dementia continues to increase, many are looking for alternative treatment and disease management.

One such option is Glenner Town Square, a “dementia village” designed to replicate experiences from the 1950s and 1960s, coming soon to San Diego.

“People with dementia need to feel like they’re part of the human race,” Dr. Jason Karlawish, co-director of the Penn Memory Center, told CNBC. “And so we need new approaches that aren’t just biomedical.”

By Terrence Casey

Two Penn Memory Center scholars — Shana Stites, PsyD, and Karolina Lempert, PhD — were recently awarded grants that will advance “not only their careers but as well the field of Alzheimer’s disease research,” PMC leadership said.

Join the Ralston Center October 11 for an expert discussion on how to care for someone with dementia or another cognitive impairment. Listen to real-world case examples and strategies to cope with increasingly difficult, confused, or erratic behavior. Discover resources available to help you.

“Caring for an Older Adult with Dementia”
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
October 11, 2017
Ralston Center
3615 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA
Lunch to follow
Registration Required

After undergoing a complete renovation, Making Sense of Alzheimer’s is back!

Making Sense of Alzheimer’s is a creative space for people to understand the past, present and future of Alzheimer’s disease. It features stories and ideas that tackle the changing understanding of what Alzheimer’s disease is and how we try to make sense of it in our lives. The voices of patients, scientists, writers, caregivers, students, singers, doctors, and artists are expressed here through words, images, and sounds. The website is an evolving forum, a gallery of ideas, a museum without walls.

1 p.m. Monday, September 18

Drug companies have spent billions of dollars on it. Academics have devoted decades to it. So where are the new drugs for Alzheimer’s disease?

STAT reporters Sharon Begley and Damian Garde will moderate a chat with Dr. Reisa Sperling of Brigham and Women’s Hospital — one of the world’s leading experts on Alzheimer’s disease — to answer just that.

Click here to register for the free live chat.