Minding Memory Podcast

Exploring Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and other Types of Dementia

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Welcome to Minding Memory. In this podcast we discuss topics related to dementia research. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for dementia research, and we have topics for both those new to the space as well as old pros. We start with some basics, like: What exactly is dementia? What are the different types of dementia? What is the TICS, if not a swarm of blood-sucking insects? But we also invite researchers on to discuss their interesting work to give you a glimpse at the questions, data, and methods moving the field forward. 

Minding Memory is co-hosted by Matthew Davis and Lauren Gerlach. Matt and Lauren are health services researchers and professors at the University of Michigan. Matt’s PhD is in Data Science and Lauren is a geriatric psychiatrist. The Minding Memory podcast is part of the Center to Accelerate Population Research in Alzheimer’s (CAPRA) at the University of Michigan, supported by the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health. Additional support also comes from the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. The content of this podcast does not represent the views of the National Institutes of Health or the University of Michigan. Please consider subscribing to this podcast and make sure to check out our website. On our website you’ll also find links to the center’s seminar series and data products created specifically for dementia research. 

Michigan Medicine is the academic medical center for the University of Michigan. The Minding Memory podcast is part of the Michigan Medicine Podcast Network. You can subscribe to Minding Memory on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Recent Podcasts See all Minding Memory Podcasts Minding Memory with a microphone and a shadow of a microphone on a blue background
Minding Memory
Can a personalized music intervention reduce behavioral disturbances in dementia?
While memory loss is generally thought of as the hallmark of dementia, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia like agitation, aggression, anxiety, and hallucinations are nearly universal, affecting almost all patients with advanced dementia. These behavioral disturbances are often the trigger for nursing home placement, and they can be highly distressing for both patients and their care partners. In today’s episode, Matt and Lauren speak with Dr. Ellen McCreedy, a researcher from the Brown School of Public Health who has conducted a study of personalized music intervention called Music & Memory for people living with dementia in nursing homes. Dr. McCreedy is a gerontologist and health services researcher who focuses on evaluation of non-pharmacologic interventions for managing behavioral disturbances of people living with dementia.
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Minding Memory
The Impact of Partner Plan Choices among Older Adults Enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MMs4)
In this episode, Matt & Lauren speak with Dr. Lianlian Lei, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan. Dr. Lei discusses a recent study that looks at the impact of partner’s plan choice on the likelihood of Medicare Advantage disenrollment and how that may impact older adults living with dementia. Unlike traditional Medicare that's administered by the federal government, Medicare Advantage are healthcare plans that are administered by private health insurance companies. These plans can vary a lot and typically cover additional services not covered by traditional Medicare. Navigating the various plan options can be a challenge for older adults, and it's not uncommon for individuals to change plans depending on their current needs.
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Minding Memory
Can a Serious Infection Increase the Risk of Developing Dementia?
In this episode, Lauren and Matt talk with Leah Richmond-Rakerd, PhD who is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on emotional and behavioral dysregulation across the life course. Here, Dr. Richmond-Rakerd will discuss her recent study on “The Associations of Hospital-Treated Infections with Subsequent Dementia: Nationwide 30-year Analysis” that was published in Nature Aging.
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Minding Memory
The Return of Minding Memory
Welcome to Season 4 of Minding Memory, where we are welcoming a new co-host, Lauren Gerlach to the Minding Memory team. Lauren is a Geriatric Psychiatrist at the University of Michigan and a member of the CAPRA leadership team. In this episode, Lauren shares a little background on her research interests, what it’s like to be a geriatric psychiatrist, and some lessons learned about using “uncool” emoticons or emojis when texting.
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Minding Memory
The Intersection of Artificial Intelligence & Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias
In this episode, Matt and Donovan talk with Dr. Jason H. Moore, Director of the Center for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education (CAIRE) and Chair of the Department of Computational Biomedicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Jason discusses the coming impact of artificial intelligence on a spectrum of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) issues. We discuss how tools such as AI-powered chatbots may improve quality of life for people living with dementia (and their caregivers) and how AI may contribute in the future to diagnosis and treatment.
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Minding Memory
The Professional Workforce of People Who Provide Dementia Care
In this episode of Minding Memory, Matt & Donovan speak with Dr. Joanne Spetz, the Brenda and Jeffrey L. Kang Presidential Chair in Healthcare Finance and Director of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Joanne talks with Matt & Donovan about who makes up the professional workforce of people who provide dementia care and how these individuals play a critical role in the delivery of services. Joanne also discusses how different professional roles interact across setting of care. Lastly, Joanne introduces a new study she is working on with Donovan called the National Dementia Workforce Study (NDWS) that will be surveying a large group of clinicians who provide care for people living with dementia.
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In this podcast we discuss topics related to dementia research. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for dementia research, and we have topics for both those new to the space as well as old pros.

Minding Memory