The hippocampus then sends memories to the different parts of the cerebral hemisphere where they are placed in long-term storage and it helps retrieve them when necessary. Example: An adult trying to remember the name of a classmate from kindergarten.
In addition to handling memory the hippocampus is also involved in emotional responses, navigation (getting around) and spatial orientation (knowing your sense of place as you move around Example: Knowing your way around your bedroom even with the lights off).
There are actually two parts of the hippocampus which is shaped like a horseshoe with one in the left part of the brain and the other in the right part of the brain.
Preclinical
With current research using advances in neuroimaging such as FDG-PET and PIB-PET scans, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) assays, it is now possible to detect the beginning processes of Alzheimer's disease that occur before symptoms begin. The research suggests that clinically normal older people (no symptoms at all) have "biomarker" evidence of amyloid beta (Aβ) build-up in the brain. This amyloid beta (Aβ) is linked to changes in the structure of the brain and how it works that is the similar to what is seen in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) - which may lead to Alzheimer's - and people with Alzheimer's.
These small preclinical changes (no symptoms) in the brain may occur many years, to even a few decades before a person is diagnosed with Alzheimer's. With a stage where there is some memory loss, or mild cognitive impairment. These changes put a person at risk of developing the clinical symptoms of full-blown Alzheimer's but not everyone who has these changes will get the disease. Even though there is no cure for Alzheimer's, there are new treatments which are being developed which would work better in the very first stages of the disease.
At this time exactly what makes up the preclinical phase of Alzheimer's is still being researched, such as why some people with go on to develop Alzheimer's and others do not. So the term "preclinical phase" is being used for research only. There is a worldwide effort in various countries doing research in this area known as the World Wide Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (WW-ADNI) which is the umbrella organization for neuroimaging studies being carried out through the North American ADNI, European ADNI (E-ADNI), Japan ADNI, Australian ADNI (AIBL), Taiwan ADNI, Korea ADNI, China ADNI and Argentina ADNI.
Beginning stages
"Misdiagnosis in very early stages of Alzheimer's is a significant problem, as there are more than 100 conditions that can mimic the disease. In people with mild memory complaints, our accuracy is barely better than chance," according to study researcher P. Murali Doraiswamy, MBBS, professor of psychiatry and medicine at Duke Medicine, "Given that the definitive gold standard for diagnosing Alzheimer's is autopsy, we need a better way to look into the brain."
In 1901, a 51-year-old woman named Auguste Deter, was committed to the City Asylum for the Insane and Epileptic, ("Städtischen Anstalt für Irre und Epileptische") in Frankfurt am Main, Germany which had the nickname "Irrenschloss" (Castle of the Insane). She was married and had a normal life until eight months prior to her commitment, when she started having psychological and neurological problems, such as problems with memory and language, paranoia, becoming disorientated and having hallucinations.
She was studied by a doctor on staff named Alois Alzheimer (1864–1915). Alzheimer became interested in her case because of her age; while the effects of senile dementia were known at the time, they usually did not start until a person was in their early to mid-sixties. Her case was also notable because of the rapid onset of dementia, only eight months, from the first reported symptoms, until she was committed.
While conducting one of his examinations of Ms. Deter, he asked her to perform a series of simple writing tasks. Unable to do what was asked such as write her name, she said "I have lost myself, so to speak" (""Ich habe mich sozusagen selbst verloren"").
Alzheimer left the hospital in Franfkurt in 1902 to begin working with Emil Kraepelin at the Psychiatric University Hospital in Heidelberg-Bergheim, and in 1903 both he and Kraepelin began working at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich.
When Ms. Deter died of septicemia on 8 April 1906, Alzheimer was informed and her brain was sent to Munich for him to study. Studying samples of her brain under a microscope he noticed neurofibriallry tangles and bundles made up of beta-amyloid plaque, which are two of the main features of the disease. On 3 November 1906, Alzheimer presented the results of his findings in Auguste's case at the Conference of South-West German Psychiatrists in Tübingen, and he published his findings in the case in 1907.
In 1910, Emil Kraepelin named the disease 'Alzheimer's disease'. Alzheimer's disease usually beigins affecting people between ages 60–65, in Ms. Deter's case - who was 55-years-old when she died - she had a form of what is now known as "Early-onset Alzhiemer's disease".
Anyone can get Alzheimer's disease, rich people or poor famous people and unfamous people. Some of the famous people who have gotten Alzheimer's disease are former United States President Ronald Reagan and Irish writer Iris Murdoch, both of whom were the subjects of scientific articles examining how their cognitive capacities got worse with the disease.
Other cases include the retired footballer Ferenc Puskás, the former Prime Ministers Harold Wilson (United Kingdom) and Adolfo Suárez (Spain), the actress Rita Hayworth, the Nobel Prize-winner Raymond Davis, Jr., the actors Charlton Heston and Gene Wilder, the novelist Terry Pratchett, politician and activist Sargent Shriver, the Blues musician B.B. King, director Jacques Rivette, Indian politician George Fernandes,
and the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics recipient Charles K. Kao. In 2012, Nobel Prize writer Gabriel García Márquez was diagnosed with the disease. Former Finnish President Mauno Koivisto died of the disease in May 2017. Country singer Glen Campbell died of the disease in August 2017.
Elaine Paige
Elaine Paige OBE (born Elaine Jill Bickerstaff, 5 March 1948) is an English actress and singer. She was born and raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, in 1948. She is known for her roles in musical theater.
She worked in the theatre from a young age. She quickly became famous in the role of Eva Perón in the musical "Evita" in 1978. She studied acting at the Aida Foster stage school in London and then played roles in the British tour of the show "The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd" and the first London production of "Hair". She played Sandy in the London production of "Grease" and appeared as one of Michael Crawford's girlfriends in "Billy". She has since said she was about to leave the world of acting, possibly to become a teacher, but then the role in "Evita" was offered to her.
After "Evita", she did not have any work for a period. She thought that her musical career had seen its best. When the actress Judi Dench had an injury during rehearsals for "Cats", the producers asked Paige play the role in stead of Dench. They stated that the role "was not another "Evita"" and that her role only had one and a half songs. Fortunately, the song was "Memory", which was a top 10 hit for Paige and has become her signature song.
After "Cats", she appeared in "Abbacadbra", an ABBA compilation, and "Chess", also written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA but with lyrics by Tim Rice, co-writer of "Evita". Paige then scored a number 1 single, "I Know Him So Well", a song from "Chess", as a duet with Barbara Dickson.