ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with a discussion of the developing emotional life in older people with dementia, together with the relationship between memory and emotion. It discusses emotion theories and the theoretical relationship between cognition and emotion. The chapter deals with theory and research gained from studies on the effects of dementia in brain structures concerned with memory processes, together with a discussion of theories of autobiographical memory and the implications for the study. It suggests that the emotions associated with the life story continue throughout life, throughout old age and even throughout dementia. Within early dementia, there are more noticeable deficits in short term memory (STM), although long term memory (LTM), itself, will eventually show signs of decline. Although both STM and LTM function are disrupted within Alzheimer's disease, A. Parkin suggests that episodic memory would appear to suffer greater disruption than that of semantic memory.
