A set of common-acting iron-responsive 5'untranslated region (5'UTR) motifs can fold into RNA stem loops that appear significant to the biology of cognitive declines of Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD), Lewy body dementia (LDD), and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Neurodegenerative diseases exhibit perturbations of iron homeostasis in defined brain…

In this chapter we use the posthumanist perspective introduced in Chapter 2 to work with a range of 'data events' from the "Beyond Words" study involving post-verbal people with dementia and their close networks. We discuss and critique the primacy of 'voice' in lifelong learning, where it has been highly privileged. Instead, our…

The autobiographical shows "The Waiting Room" (by John Mann and Morris Panych), and "Sonic Elder" (by Vancouver's The Chop Theatre), both featured performers with dementia or marked age-related memory loss who performed rock music live on stage. These professional Canadian productions used a dramaturgical approach…

A reflection on the process that led to the development of dementia friendly theatre performances at Leeds Playhouse (formerly West Yorkshire Playhouse) including the vital involvement of people living with dementia as creative consultants. This article outlines the inspiration behind such performances, the steps required to make the necessary…

This paper considers the potential for the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) of England and Wales to incentivise the exclusion of people with dementia from research. The MCA is intended to standardise and safeguard the inclusion of people with cognitive impairments in research. This entails various procedural requirements, which in pressurised research…

The perspective of people with dementia, particularly late-stage dementia, is often excluded from research, even from methods like Participatory Action Research (PAR), which aim to democratise research. This research note outlines how a PAR project engaged with the perspective of people with late-stage dementia in a residential aged care facility.…

'Dis-identifications from dominant models of subject-formation can be productive and creative' (Braidotti 2013, 167). This problematises applied theatre practices informed by received understandings of dementia, and their implications for memory and identity. "Forgotten Futures"(2017) and "Never-Ending Story" (2016-ongoing)…

Walking by those living with dementia is often pathologically labelled 'wandering', an act lacking a clear purpose or destination. Walking in this context is not widely understood or valued, except as physical exercise. Drawing on walking performances by other artists and the author's own arts-based research, during which she walked outdoors and…

Equating of psychometric scales and tests is frequently required and conducted in educational, behavioral, and clinical research. Construct comparability or equivalence between measuring instruments is a necessary condition for making decisions about linking and equating resulting scores. This article is concerned with a widely applicable method…

This chapter focuses on the learning that happens in an intergenerational music and arts intervention with pre-verbal children and elderly people with dementia. It draws on qualitative work using a posthumanist framework of observations exploring the embodied engagement of children and elderly people with instruments, space and each other and the…

Through this paper, I consider how we might be aesthetically and relationally accountable in creating research-informed theatre through the conceptual frame of an aesthetic of relationality, and in-depth considerations of the theoretical notions embodiment, imagination and foolishness (as vulnerability-bravery). Through the example of…

This article considers how intergenerational arts can help support the resilience of people living with dementia. Theorising a moment of process from Magic Me's "Reflections of Stepney," it analyses how art facilitators help a child and care home resident to overcome the challenge of relating and create a performance together. It…

This article considers two examples of life story performance: the first autobiographical work about the author's recovery from stroke, and the second the life-story production Re-Live Theatre's "Memoria" about dementia. It explores how performing life stories facilitates connection between performers with transformed cognitive…

"Dementia's Journey" explores the year-long process of a playwright working with a charity and its partners in writing a play focussing on experiences of dementia in a South Asian community, and how the need to tell an emotionally engaging and resonant story is balanced with the requirement to raise awareness of the issues involved. It…

The use of comics can be a powerful tool to expand educational outreach efforts for improving the health and well-being of people everywhere. Dr. Ian Williams coined the term "graphic medicine" to denote the use of comics in medical education and patient care ("Graphic Medicine"). Alzheimer's disease affects approximately five…