Cognitive Retention Therapy is a graduated program of text and activity based memory and thinking exercises. Utilizing each individual's unique life story as the focus of the program materials used, participants exercise the cognitive steps necessary to search for alternative paths to previously well established memory information (memory bridging).

If you have ever tried to remember a piece of information but could not - the "it's on the tip of my tongue" phenomena, then you have experienced something that a person with Alzheimer's disease experiences more and more every day. You knew the information was there, but you couldn't find it. In the early to mid stages of Alzheimer's disease something very similar happens - the information that makes up your memories largely remains, while the neural pathways or "bridges" that "connect the dots" are lost to the disease.

About CRT™

Research on the human brain tells us that our memories are not stored in a very orderly way, but are instead "broken up" into pieces. An example of this can be illustrated if you think about a lemon. The taste of the lemon is stored in one area of your brain, while the shape and size of the lemon are stored in another, while the color, smell, and texture of the lemon are all stored in different areas of your brain as well. When you are remembering a lemon you are actually 'assembling" the memory from a number of different areas of your brain. CRT uses this fact to our advantage by stimulating the process of "connecting the dots", training the brain to build memory bridges using a person centered, research proven program of structured cognitive exercises.

By starting CRT as soon as possible after diagnosis, we can maximize the therapeutic benefits of the program. Like most other serious disease, the earlier treatment starts, the better. CRT is non-invasive. No pills are needed, no "adverse drug effects" to worry about. For those patients who cannot or do not take dementia drugs, CRT has been proven to offer benefits easily on a par with medications.

For those taking prescribed Alzheimer's medications, CRT can be started at any time with the combination of the two types of therapy often producing remarkable results.