Algunas consideraciones sobre la demencia tipo Alzheimer y el cine: una reflexión sobre el cortometraje “Mémorable”

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative condition that impacts functions such as memory and cognition, as well as the level of functional dependence. The following article is an exercise in clinical and narrative abstraction that aims to study the animated short Mémorable from director Bruno Collet, which details the experience of a man struggling with AD. Since Louis, the protagonist of this story, presents chronic alterations in his memory, thinking, and behavior, the staging tools used in AD, such as the Global Impairment Scale (GDS) and the Functional Assessment Tool (FAST), are applied to his case. Likewise, these clinical features are contrasted with the experience of William Utermohlen, an American painter who continued to work on his art even after being diagnosed with AD, and in whose paintings it is possible to appreciate the loss of cognitive abilities characteristic of each stage of the disease. In this way, this work invites the reader to consider cinema as a narrative medicine instrument that serves as a bridge between the diagnosis and treatment of AD and the experience lived by patients and caregivers, being an essential academic resource for the scientific and professional training of medical doctors.