The effects of environmental barriers on the attention span of Alzheimer's disease patients

Abstract

Anecdotal evidence indicates that Alzheimer's disease patients often appear confused and unable to concentrate, and that this may be related to attention span. This study utilizes barriers of three different heights to test how visual and auditory distracters affect the ability to concentrate on a given task. Residents were given art projects with adult themes and were observed for number of distractions. The results indicate that both low and high barriers are more effective than no barriers in screening out extraneous visual and auditory distractions. Of equal or greater importance is the finding that residents in the early and middle stages of the disease averaged 16 minutes of focused attention in a 20 minute trial.