Since no one is born literate, there was a time in a reader's life when this sentence would be entirely illegible. There was also a time when this sentence spoken aloud would still be incomprehensible, for no one is born with a useful grasp of the English phonology or syntax. Most organisms that have ever lived could do nothing of either sort. The uniquely human trait of language, its generation and its comprehension is among those aspects of being human which comprise human cognition.
Cognition bounds human potential, deciding what a person is and to what degree he or she can change that. This is why disorders which mar our executive processes are a particularly tragic set. Activities of daily living, biographies, skills — all are stored within the long-term memory, and any upset to this can radically alter an individual identity. Any change in cognitive function is similar. The ability to focus long enough to encode a stimulus — being able to study, for example — is a hugely useful trait in life and any damage to a system which does this could permanently ruin one's chances at success in life.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) will be among the more pervasive and pernicious diseases of the next 20 years, according to Amarilis Acevedo and David A. Loewenstein's 2007 research in the Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology. Their paper explores the potential for behavioral treatments of AD. However, given a number of extraneous variables, their analysis can only suggest the need for more research. Participant self-selection, the white, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic population, the paucity of long-term research, lack of long-term follow-up on short-term research, the unfortunate number of patients who do not live to continue with treatment, the number of patients who opt-out and characteristics of the nursing home populations often research, like socioeconomic status or loneliness, all play a role in swaying the effectiveness of any tested treatment.
Scientists admitting more research needs to be done is preferable to a paper which presses forth a bogus solution as functional. The paper offers a directional answer, demarcating a particular area of investigation for further scrutiny.
Such a deep probing of the issue is not merely a convenience which lessens the pain of the elderly — it is an urgent social imperative. The societal cost of the absence of an effective treatment for AD is sizable within itself. Given the expansive number of rapidly aging Baby Boomers, more individuals will experience AD than in previous history.
With respect to further investigation, the options exist both coevally and prospectively. As for future generations, research funding could be devoted to longitudinal studies across a wide array of backgrounds. Presently, pharmaceutical treatments could also be investigated. Doubtlessly, both these options are being researched right now.
Every psychologist has a requirement to put out a one-sentence phrase which begins with "Humans are the only species that …" and ends with a profound mental revelation, according to psychologist Daniel Gilbert. His sentence is "Humans are the only species that can think about the future." Some would argue that humans are the only animals that are marked by their thinking, devoting a remarkable amount of caloric energy to their brain. The paucity of current research offers a clarion call to investigate its preservation, faced with the specter of AD.
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