Brain Talk | Being Patient for Alzheimer's Patients and Caregivers

By Being PatientScience

Brain Talk | Being Patient for Alzheimer's Patients and Caregivers episodes

June 27, 2024 Dr. Mark D’Esposito: A Neurologist on How to Optimize Cognitive Function
University of California Berkeley neurologist Dr. Mark D’Esposito joined Being Patient live talks to discuss how people concerned about Alzheimer’s risk can optimize their brain health and function. He’ll also discuss how neural mechanisms impact cognition to provide context on strategies for improving brain health.
D’Esposito’s research focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying cognition and how the brain recovers from injury, and he’s the writer/editor of seven books on this subject matter. He has served as President of the Society for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology, Chairman of the International Society for Human Brain Mapping, and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.
Watch the full video to learn more about how you can optimize your brain and improve cognitive function.
34 min
June 24, 2024 Dr. Hussein Yassine: Your Questions Answered About Diet and Brain Health
While Alzheimer’s disease isn’t curable, research shows it may be preventable or postponable by controlling lifestyle factors like diet. Yet, with so many types of diets emerging, it’s hard to know what’s a fad and what lifestyle changes can actually support brain health.
USC’s Dr. Hussein Yassine joins Being Patient live talks to answer questions about how diet affects brain health.
Yassine is an associate professor at USC’s Keck School of Medicine. His research is focused on the intersection of neurology and nutritional sciences. At Yassine Lab, his team studies how lipids — particularly omega-3 fatty acids — affect Alzheimer’s disease. He’s also the director of USC Center for Personalized Brain Health, launched in 2023 to build research on the APOE gene and the role of fatty acids in the brain to advance personalized health to cut Alzheimer’s risk.
Watch this live talk to learn more about how diet impacts the brain and, ultimately, Alzheimer’s risk.
40 min
June 24, 2024 Dr. Lise Eliot: How Gender Impacts the Brain and Alzheimer’s Risk
Two thirds of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s are women. In addition, research shows that Alzheimer’s biomarker tau protein accumulates differently and more quickly in women’s brains. Researchers like Rosalind Franklin University’s Lise Eliot are investigating how differences in brain structure for men and women are impacting Alzheimer’s risk. Eliot joins Being Patient Live Talks to discuss these gender differences in the brain and the current research in this space.
Eliot is a professor of neuroscience in the Chicago Medical School of Rosalind Franklin University. Her research centers on brain and gender development, focusing particularly on the role of neuroplasticity in translating early life experience into neural circuitry. She is the author of two books, What’s Going On in There? How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life (Bantam), and Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow Into Troublesome Gaps (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).

25 min
April 22, 2024 Doreen Monks: A Neuroscience Nurse Got Early-Onset Alzheimer’s— Here’s How She’s Making a Difference
Former neuroscience nurse practitioner and Alzheimer’s advocate Doreen Monks joins Being Patient Live Talks to discuss her experience with diagnosis and her path toward advocacy.
As she shared in her previous live talk with us, Monk was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s in 2016 at age 63, after which she became dedicated to sharing her story and working with organizations like Voices of Alzheimer’s, US Against Alzheimer’s, and the Alzheimer’s Association.
Leveraging her background in neuroscience, specifically focusing on stroke care, management, prevention, and treatment, she uses her voice to reduce stigma around Alzheimer’s and promote education about the disease.
Watch the full talk to learn more about her diagnosis and how she is using her medical background to educate others about Alzheimer’s disease.
29 min
April 22, 2024 Sarah Widmeyer: Caregiving Taught Her More Women Were Needed in Alzheimer’s Research
Sarah Widmeyer joins Being Patient Live Talks to discuss her experience caring for her mother, Elaine, who passed away from Alzheimer’s in 2022, and how the experience set her off on the path to advocating for more gender diversity in clinical research. Widmeyer is an SVP of Wealth Strategies and CMO at Richardson Wealth, and she’s passionate about improving research and access to care for women. The end goal: to improve outcomes for women like her mom.
Inspired by her experience as a caregiver and advocating for her mom as a patient, Widmeyer now serves on the Board of Directors of the Women’s Brain Health Initiative, an organization on funding research and creating education programs to combat brain-aging diseases that primarily affect women.
Listen to the full Live Talk to learn more about her caregiving experience and her passion for advancing research on women’s brain health.
21 min
March 28, 2024 Amanda Sullivan: Telling Her Mother’s Story to Help Young Readers Understand FTD
Pediatric psychotherapist Amanda Sullivan joins Being Patient Live Talks to discuss Leaf, a children’s book that commemorates the life of her mother, who died of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in 2022. Sullivan wrote the book after struggling to find any children’s books on FTD for her own children.
Leaf tells the story of her mother’s life in the hopes of giving young readers a chance to learn more about this type of dementia and the impact it can have on the family. In the live talk, she’ll discuss the book and how she hopes the book can help family members help children understand the disease.
Sullivan is a licensed independent mental health practitioner (LIMHP) and licensed clinical social worker (LCSW). She resides in Lincoln, Nebraska where she co-owns a private practice of six therapists. She assisted in her mother’s diagnosis as well as coordinated and managed her medical care.
Listen to this talk to learn more about Sullivan’s caregiving journey and how books like Leaf can help educate young people about dementia.
17 min
March 25, 2024 Sonde Health’s David Liu: Can the Sound of Your Voice Signal Cognitive Decline?
Brain health researchers are exploring new ways to leverage AI in the diagnosis of diseases like Alzheimer’s. One emerging field of study is that of vocal biomarkers: the way our voices sound. Some companies are even developing personal smart devices to identify vocal biomarkers — and, perhaps one day in the future, to aid in early diagnosis or even disease prevention.
We asked David Liu, the CEO of Sonde Health, to join Live Talks to explain this emerging field, and tell us a bit more about the science behind voice biomarkers and their potential for early-identification of cognitive impairment.
Listen to the full live talk to learn more about vocal biomarkers and their potential for early detection of cognitive decline.
32 min
March 18, 2024 High-Tech Brain Implants for Parkinson’s: A Patient + Neurologist on Neuromodulation
High-tech treatments for neurodegenerative diseases are on the horizon. In fact, some patients already have brain implants that help address their symptoms through “reprogramming the brain.” Hear from one patient and his doctor about the real-life story behind this innovative new treatment for Parkinson’s.
Speaker, author, and Parkinson’s Disease advocate Benjamin Stecher and neurologist Dr. Alfonso Fasano, join Being Patient live talks to discuss their upcoming book on just this topic, Reprogramming the Brain.
The upcoming book, traces the experience of Stecher and his doctor Fasano’s 2021 decision to surgically implant two six-inch-long metal alloy spikes all the way through his brain. With the patient and doctor writing about the experience and what was to come afterward, the upcoming book will serve as a guide for the future of the brain and neuromodulation.
Stecher, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at age 29, speaks regularly at academic centers and biotech companies about neurodegenerative diseases, research advocacy, and healthcare. The founder of Tomorrow Edition, he is a patient advisor to several organizations, including the Toronto Western Hospital Movement Disorder Clinic and Rune Labs. In addition to his upcoming book, he also co-wrote Brain Fables with Alberto Espay, published by Cambridge University Press.
Fasano, who holds the Chair in Neuromodulation at the University of Toronto and University Health Network, is also a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. In addition, he is staff neurologist and co-director of the Surgical Program for Movement Disorders at Toronto Western Hospital, staff neurologist at the Hospital of Sick Children in Toronto, and clinician investigator at the Krembil Research Institute and KITE – Toronto Rehabilitation Hospital. His work focuses on the treatment of movement disorders with advanced technology, pathophysiology, and treatment of tremor and gait disorders.
44 min
February 27, 2024 Ask Teepa Snow Anything: Your Dementia Caregiving Questions Answered
In this live-streamed Q&A with Positive Approach to Care founder and dementia care expert Teepa Snow, she answered Being Patient readers’ questions in real-time.
Snow, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, is an Occupational Therapist with over forty years of clinical and academic experience. Her experiences led her to the development of the GEMS® States of Brain Change and the Positive Approach® training strategies. Her company, Positive Approach to Care® (PAC), provides online and in-person education and products to support those living with brain change. She also founded the Snow Approach Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Hillsborough, North Carolina.
Listen to this live talk to get your questions about dementia caregiving answered!
54 min
February 27, 2024 Rebecca Chopp: Living With Alzheimer’s, Living With Joy | Patient Perspectives
Alzheimer’s educator and activist Rebecca Chopp, Ph.D., joins Being Patient Live talks to discuss her upcoming book “Still Me: Accepting Alzheimer’s Without Losing Yourself.” As she discussed in a previous live talk with us, she’ll also be speaking about how she defies the stigma of Alzheimer’s by living with joy.
Before Chopp’s diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s in 2019, she was a widely published author, editor, and academic in the fields of education, philosophy, religion, and feminism. In particular, she served as the 18th and first female chancellor of the University of Denver. She has also served as president of Swarthmore College and Colgate University, as Provost at Emory University, and as Dean of Divinity at Yale University.
Since her retirement, Chopp has devoted her days to living with joy. She enjoys painting classical portraits and abstracts, hiking in the Colorado mountains with Buhdy, her dog, and spending time with friends and family. She also co-founded the advocacy group Voices of Alzheimer’s and serves as a board member of both the Alzheimer’s Association’s national organization and its Colorado Chapter. In addition to her writing and art, she is a frequent speaker on timely diagnosis, research for a cure, access and affordability of drugs, and lifestyle interventions for those with Alzheimer’s.
Watch this live talk to learn more about her upcoming book — and her guidance for living well with Alzheimer’s.
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Being Patient is an editorially independent journalism outlet for news and reporting about brain health, cognitive science, and neurodegenerative diseases. In our Live Talk series on Facebook, former Wall Street Journal Editor and founder of Being Patient, Deborah Kan, interviews brain health experts and people living with dementia.
Check out our latest Live Talks: https://www.beingpatient.com/category/video/
#Alzheimers #MildCognitiveImpairment #PatientPerspective #Books
36 min