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Non-artists with Alzheimer-type dementia created pictures as part of a biweekly (twice per week) activities program. The collages were made by residents at a long-term care facility in the Midwest and were analyzed for compositional complexity and asymmetry over the course of a three-year project. As indicated by a repeated-measures ANOVA, asymmetry did not change significantly with practice, but complexity did. Mean pictorial complexity was lower during later sessions than earlier ones. Mean asymmetry was not influenced by number of sessions (or time) in a generalizable fashion. Implications of the project for understanding the artwork of persons with dementia are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language function, among individuals with probable Alzheimer's disease, declines over the course of dementia. Researchers have proposed that much of this decline is 'first-in: last-out.' Thus, one might expect regression to a previous level of language function-as among bilinguals who regress to their first language. General regression from paradigmatic to syntagmatic associations may also occur. In the current study, eighteen individuals with probable Alzheimer's disease generated names for pictures, categorized pictures, and responded with associations to pictures. Evidence of syntagmatic-paradigmatic reversal was documented, with low-functioning participants generating fewer paradigmatic responses than high-functioning participants did. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors asked residents (non-artists with and without Alzheimer's-type dementia) at a long-term care facility in Ohio to be pen-pals to students at a middle school in Chicago, in part, as motivation for art production. The pictures made by elderly participants were analyzed for compositional complexity and balance (symmetry vs. asymmetry). Individuals with dementia verbalized general preferences for more linear, symmetrical compositions. In the first study, asymmetry declined over sessions for individuals with dementia, but remained low across all sessions for those without dementia. Unfortunately, that effect did not reach significance in the parametric analyses. In the second study, participants at four different facilities were asked to create pictures related to upcoming seasonal events (e.g., Valentine's Day). Most compelling were the differences in compositional complexity across levels of cognitive functioning that were observed in both studies. Overall, low-functioning individuals with dementia placed significantly fewer items on a page. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]