ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE IN PAINTING

Alzheimer's disease has not been spared and painting, which is able to reflect changes in both the psychological and physical condition of the artist, which allows you to feel the severity of the disease and the helplessness of such patients, both in front of themselves and in front of society. Alzheimer's disease is characterized by several criteria, such as reduced cognitive abilities, where a large number of variations in memory loss are given high priority, regulatory functions and speech also suffer, and personality and behavior changes. However, special attention should also be paid to violations of the visual-spatial function. The aim of the work was to identify artists who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, analyze their work before the onset of the disease and during its progression, find the main signs of the disease in painting, and systematize these signs. We used the method of vertical and horizontal analysis, as well as a comparison method based on a number of NINCDS-ADRDA criteria that allow us to find and systematize the obtained data. The study revealed common features of pathological deviations in works of art by artists with Alzheimer's disease - the appearance of two-dimensionality and simplification (simplicity) in painting, the total number of angles decreases and their sharpness decreases, the deterioration of perspective and atmosphere in the image, the loss of meaning and content, sometimes there was a transition to abstraction, copying previous works when creating a new work. There was a decrease in the ability to perform previous work, a decrease in cognitive functions compared to the previous functional level, especially violations of visual and spatial functions and memory, as well as a decrease in regulatory abilities.

Alzheimer's disease, dementia, cognitive impairment, neurodegenerative disorders, memory impairment, art, painting