Connections: Happy Holidays from the Mesulam Center

December 2023

We want to express our gratitude for your support and participation with the Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease. We are grateful for your commitment to our research.

We want you to know that it is because of your commitment that our work continues as we aim to provide the best possible treatment, support and care for those living with dementia and their families.

We wish you joy and peace this holiday season!

Below are some resources for this holiday season:

Holiday Travel with FTD — AFTD
Navigating the Holidays — AFTD
Holiday Hints for Caregivers — CurePSP
Holiday Hints for Alzheimer’s Caregivers —National Institute on Aging
Dealing with Grief During the Holiday Season — AARP
Alzheimer's Association 24/7 Helpline — Alzheimer's Association
Guided Meditation Hotline — Harvard University

[4 Minute Read]

Published in 2022, the “Musical Bridges to Memory” intervention, a collaboration between Northwestern Medicine and the Institute for Therapy through the Arts,revealed the power of music in connecting with individuals suffering from dementia, particularly in the later stages.

Borna Bonakdarpour recently spoke about the study potential future implications of their findings.

Read the Full Article

In this study, we evaluated the association between atrophy (i.e., reduced brain volume) and difficulties producing complex sentences in 100 participants with PPA. We found that, while atrophy in left inferior frontal regions was associated with difficulties in all sentence production tasks, atrophy in left posterior temporal regions was associated with sentence production difficulties only on a task that engaged auditory short-term memory. These results provide an important contribution to the current knowledge on the organization of the language network and offer a possible explanation for the divergent findings coming from the literature on stroke aphasia and that on Primary Progressive Aphasia.

Authors: Elena Barbieri, Sladjana Lukic, Emily Rogalski, Sandra Weintraub, Marek-Marsel Mesulam, Cynthia Thompson

Published: Cerebal Cortex December 14, 2023

Read the Full Publication

Want to learn more about this and other recent publications from the Mesulam Center? Click here to view all recent publication.

Upcoming Community Events

South Loop Memory Cafés: Happy Birthday Dr. King

The South Loop Village Memory Cafés are free in-person and virtual monthly social gathering for persons living with dementia and their family, friends, and care partners. Meetings will resume in January 2024. Stay tuned for an email with updated event and registration information for 2024.

In-Person: Thursday, January 11, 1–2 PM

Virtual: Tuesday, January 23, 2–3 PM

Music Movement & Community

Lorenzo's House presents Music Movement & Community, an in-person interactive experience for families living with younger-onset dementia. This is an inclusive and stimulating learning environment of personal connection and fun.

Sessions will be offered starting in January 2024. Email mmc@lorenzoshouse.org for more information.

1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month,

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

The Mesulam Center would like to thank all Mesulam Center faculty, staff, and community partners, for their participation in this year’s community engagement initiatives. In 2023 we participated in 68 local educational community events, 36 meetings with community organizations and 3 academic conferences. These efforts reached 2,911 community members and included senior health fairs, community resource fairs, memory cafés (in-person and virtual), dementia friends’ presentations, brain health and fitness programs, Alzheimer's Disease community forums, conferences. Notable programming included the Black Women’s Expo, Healthy Aging Summer Series, Brain Health and Dementia Day at Southbridge, Valentines Day senior lunch and listen, Minority Health month series, Northwestern University/Northwestern Medicine health fairs and Release the Silence reducing memory health disparities with awareness, education, and resources conference.

A special thank you to Mesulam Center members: Maureen Daly, Molly Mather, Allison Lapins, Kate Lucca, Lauren Dowden, Caila Ryan, Reina Kwon, Bridget, Moran-Mcabe, Grace Minogue, Eskedar Elem, Sandy Weintraub ,and Antonia Zouridakis for being a part of our community engagement efforts. We would not have been able to reach so many people without you all!

We would also like to thank our amazing community partners: South Loop Village, First District and Second District Chicago Police Department Senior Sub Committees, Hall Branch Chicago Public Library, Dementia Friendly Washington Heights, Woodson Regional Chicago Public Library, South Side Jazz Coalition, Far South Chicago Coalition, The Renaissance Collaborative, Alzheimer’s Association -IL Chapter, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Urban Juncture/Boxville, SHARE Network, Mather, and Alderman Lamont Robinson’s Office. We appreciate your partnership in bringing equity and awareness to Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia Research.

Wishing you and your families a happy holiday season!

Phyllis Timpo and Darby Morhardt

News & Announcements

Dr. Ian Grant Discusses Aphasia and Bruce Willis

[2 Minute Watch]

Ian Grant, MD, assistant professor of Neurology at the Mesulam Center, recently spoke to Northwestern Medicine about Bruce Willis and his aphasia diagnosis.

Share Your Story

Are you a Mesulam Center research participant? Are you interested in sharing your story? Consider joining our team of research advocates.

Become a Research Advocate

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