In Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence, he says that some “emotional reactions and emotional memories can be formed without any conscious, cognitive participationat all.” It is an area of the brain, called the amygdala, which acts as a repository for such impressions and memories that have never reached full awareness.
The thought came to me that maybe the amygdala is saved from the ravages of dementia for far longer than the cortex. And it might explain why art activities, intuitions, images and symbols can access those memories when cortical, rational, verbal memory is failing.
For those of you caring for a victim of Alzheimer’s, it is worth trying to access those stored memories and abilities:
- Take a few pages, a new box of oil pastels with 12 colors, (all
new and inviting), lay them on a table, sit beside your loved one and ask him or her to choose a color and make some marks on the page. If he/she is reluctant, you might start yourself. Make a line or a shape somewhere in the middle and then invite him/her
to add to their own mark. Thus you can play backwards and forwards with colors and shapes, some cautious and some free and daring, some swirling around and some limited to a restricted place on the page. - Put a very simple object on the table and ask her/him
to try and copy it. Maybe a bright, simply shaped vase, or two pieces of fruit such as an apple and a banana next to each other. Again, if there is reluctance, do it on your own page at the same time. You can be an example and give courage.
Try these simple exercises. They can be most effective and provide some peaceful, pleasurable together time.
If you want more ideas, there is a chapter in my book “When Words Have Lost Their Meaning” in which I provide ways of eliciting creative art from people suffering from dementia.
Any questions or comments will be gladly responded to.
