1 / 36

STORIES AND EMBODIED MEMORIES IN DEMENTIA Lars-Christer Hydén, PhD

STORIES AND EMBODIED MEMORIES IN DEMENTIA Lars-Christer Hydén, PhD Center for Dementia Research (CEDER) Linköping University, Sweden. CEDER - Center for Dementia Research. Interest in people with dementia as storytellers. Dementia:

keene
Download Presentation

STORIES AND EMBODIED MEMORIES IN DEMENTIA Lars-Christer Hydén, PhD

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. STORIES AND EMBODIED MEMORIES IN DEMENTIA Lars-Christer Hydén, PhD Center for Dementia Research (CEDER) Linköping University, Sweden CEDER - Center for Dementia Research

  2. Interest in people with dementia as storytellers.

  3. Dementia: a brain disease first resulting in linguistic and cognitive challenges - later on more functions are involved - and eventually resulting in death. A disease with many faces and causes.

  4. Storytelling: * is ubiquitous; * is important in presenting and negotiating identities; * important in understanding other persons and the world.

  5. Research on dementia invites us to re-think some theoretical issues: (1) what is memory? (2) what does ”losing memory” mean and imply?

  6. Episodic memory Event representation Semantic memory Words & linguistic constructions Talk: linguistic representation of retrieved events

  7. Embodiment

  8. Embodiment: (1) Communicative body (2) ”Embodied cognition” and a combinations of these

  9. An example Laura * 52 years old * early on-set dementia * two children * divorced

  10. The interview Thematic: - diagnosis - life history - present life

  11. The interview situation * In Laura’s home * Social support person present, and * Two interviewers Video recorded

  12. Set up

  13. The start of the sequence: Laura is telling about where she has been living - as part of that story she tells about separating from her husband and about her son.

  14. The sound file

  15. Laura: well my son ehh lives with his father and we all lived there I1: mm Laura: we separated and then we had different he came to me and then it was empty I2: yes Laura: and then I2: [alternate residence] Laura: [we did this for a while]

  16. Laura: well my son ehh (1,5s) lives with his father (2s) and we all lived there (0.75s) I1: mm Laura: we separated and then (1,5s) we had different (2s) he came to me (0.8) and then it was empty (0.5s) I2: yes Laura: and then (2.0s) I2: [alternate residence] Laura: [we did this for a while]

  17. Laura: well my son ehh lives with his father and we all lived there I1: mm Laura: we separated and then we had different he came to me  and then it was empty  I2: yes Laura: and then I2: [alternate residence] Laura: [we did this for a while] 

  18. Build a case for incompleteness: * frequent in the interview * pauses quite long * grammatical constructions: lack of words that differentiate in events, situations and physical arrangements. Utterances are ’syncretic’.

  19. The video

  20. The gestures, eyes, body posture

  21. Laura: well my son ehh Gestures: ((hands resting in knee - default)) Gaze: ((gaze directed towards I1))

  22. Laura: well my son ehh Gestures: ((hands resting in knee - default)) Gaze: ((gaze directed towards I1)) Laura: lives with his father Laura: and w-we all lived there ((I1: mm)) Laura: w-we separated Gestures: ((raises both hands in outward movement))

  23. Laura: well my son ehh Gestures: ((hands resting in knee - default)) Gaze: ((gaze directed towards I1)) Laura: lives with his father Laura: and w-we all lived there ((I1: mm)) Laura: w-we separated and Gestures: ((raises both hands in outward movement)) Laura:and then Gestures: ((join hands))

  24. Laura: well my son ehh Gestures: ((hands resting in knee - default)) Gaze: ((gaze directed towards I1)) Laura: lives with his father Laura: and w-we all lived there ((I1: mm)) Laura: w-we separated Gestures: ((raises both hands in outward movement)) Laura:and then Gestures: ((join hands)) Laura: we had different Gestures: ((outward hand movements hands separated))

  25. Laura: well my son ehh Gestures: ((hands resting in knee - default)) Gaze: ((gaze directed towards I1)) Laura: lives with his father Laura: and w-we all lived there ((I1: mm)) Laura: w-we separated Gestures: ((raises both hands in outward movement)) Laura:and then Gestures: ((join hands)) Laura: we had different Gestures: ((outward hand movements hands separated)) Laura: he came to me Gestures: ((right hand in to the body midline))

  26. Laura: we had different Gestures: ((outward hand movements hands separated)) Laura: he came to me Gestures: ((right hand in to the body midline)) Laura: and then it was empty ((small laughter)) I2: yes Gestures: ((left hand in to body midline)) Gaze: ((shifts gaze to I2))

  27. Laura: and then it was empty ((small laughter)) I2: yes Gestures: ((left hand in to body midline)) Gaze: ((shifts gaze to I2)) Laura: and then Gestures: ((right hand from right to midline => both hand to default position)) Gaze: ((shifts gaze to I1))

  28. Laura: well my son ehh Gestures: ((hands resting in knee - default)) Gaze: ((gaze directed towards I1)) Laura: lives with his father Laura: and w-we all lived there ((I1: mm)) Laura: w-we separated and Gestures: ((raises both hands in outward movement)) Laura:then Gestures: ((join hands)) Laura: we had different Gestures: ((outward hand movements hands separated)) Laura: he came to me Gestures: ((right hand in to the body midline)) Laura: and then it was empty ((small laughter)) I2: yes Gestures: ((left hand in to body midline)) Gaze: ((shifts gaze to I2)) Laura: and then Gestures: ((right hand from right to midline => both hand to default position)) Gaze: ((shifts gaze to I1)) I2: [alternate residence] Laura: [we did this for a while] Gaze: ((shifts gaze to I2))

  29. Sum up of analysis: * Gestures take on the functions of words;

  30. Sum up of analysis: * Gestures take on the functions of words; * Complex gestures - events;

  31. Sum up of analysis: * Gestures take on the functions of words; * Complex gestures - events; * Gestures connected to embodied experiences;

  32. Sum up of analysis: * Gestures take on the functions of words; * Complex gestures - events; * Gestures connected to embodied experiences; * Gestures are ”syncretic”.

  33. Conclusions * Indication that memories are not representations stored in an archive but rather bits and pieces of modular (embodied) experiences and patterns of experiences that can be re-created in a new situation.

  34. Conclusions * Experiential fragments are not ”mapped” into linguistic expressions, but rather developed through various semiotic tools (language, gestures).

  35. Conclusions * Dementia do not lead to erasure of ”memories” in the brain, but to loss of certain possibilities - and inventions of new possibilities.

  36. The End

More Related