Most people associate Alzheimer’s disease with profound memory loss, but it is often the symptoms—sleep disturbances, depression, and agitation—that are a challenge to treat, and can significantly reduce the quality of life for both the affected individual and their family members and caregivers.
In a research project funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), Mariana Figueiro, a professor and the director of the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is investigating whether a tailored lighting intervention can lessen the impact of these symptoms in older adults living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). She recently…