Must reads

• A February 18, 2014 Chicago Tribune article reported on a shift in how researchers understand aging. According to the article, "With more people living longer, research has more examples of how we cope physically and mentally...How do we stay healthy and mobile into our senior years? How do we stave off dementia? Exercise regularly. Stay mentally active. Nurture rich social connections. Find things you enjoy doing and people you enjoy doing them with, scientists said at the annual Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Chicago."
• A February 17, 2014 Digital Journal opinion piece by Kimberly Reynolds highlighted the positive impact of technology on the lives of dementia caregivers. According to Reynolds, "Advances in technology available to residents and caregivers include innovations in the field of communication and assisted technologies. Assisted technology refers to technology that assists a resident in performing a task that they would otherwise be unable to do. The term can also denote a technology that helps with the ease and safety with which the task can be performed.Communication technologies such as social media, instant messaging and pagers differ from assisted technology in that they provide increased ability to communicate between all parties involved." 
• A February Redbook Magazine article featured the story of how actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley came to terms with her mother's dementia. According to the article, "Actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley hated the dementia that made her mother seem like a different person—erratic, silent, sometimes angry. Then she found a way to love that mom too."

• A February 17, 2014 The Guardian article reported that a new study from researchers at the University of Pittsburg has found that "Regular brisk walking three times a week increases the size of brain regions linked to planning and memory." According to the article, "Regular brisk walks can slow down the shrinking of the brain and the faltering mental skills that old age often brings, scientists say...The prefrontal cortex and hippocampus increased in size by only 2% or 3%, but that was enough to offset the steady shrinkage doctors expected to see over the same period."
• A February 17, 2014 MedPageToday video highlighted the importance of accurate diagnosis, medication choice, family education, and new imaging techniques for Alzheimer's. 

• A February 17, 2014 Boston Globe review of a new play called "Absence" called the play "a painful portrayal of dementia." According to the review, "What is it about Alzheimer’s that beckons like catnip to aspiring playwrights? It’s easy enough to understand the appeal for the writer — in the case of “Absence,” Peter M. Floyd, who developed this full-length work (his first) while still a grad student in Boston University’s playwriting program. Take on a faltering mind and you get to toy with memory — the very meat of drama — and the deterioration or absence thereof. But for the audience, a good portion of whom may themselves be staring down the prospect of senility, it’s not exactly a picnic."