Can new talents develop after a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease?

http://www.alzheimersreadingroom.com/2013/09/can-new-talents-develop-after-diagnosis.html

Click on the link above to read the latest blog from the Alzheimer’s Reading Room, which highlights the creativity of Alzheimer’s artist Lester E. Potts, Jr., the inspiration behind the founding of Cognitive Dynamics.  Potts, a rural Alabama saw miller, became an acclaimed watercolor artist in the throes of Alzheimer’s disease, having never shown previous artistic talent.  His art has been displayed internationally, and is the subject of research.  He started painting while participating in an arts group at Caring Days Adult Daycare Center in Tuscaloosa, AL.  http://www.caringdays.org/

Max Wallack, the remarkable 17 year old Alzheimer’s advocate who started Puzzles to Remember http://www.puzzlestoremember.org/ comments about the emergence of new talent in some people with Alzheimer’s disease, and touts cognitive enhancing tools like puzzles as potentially beneficial in fostering such creative expression.

Max has recently written “Why Did Grandma Put Her Underwear in the Refrigerator?” http://www.amazon.com/Why-Did-Grandma-Underwear-Refrigerator/dp/1489501673 to help explain Alzheimer’s disease to children.

Lester E. Potts, Jr. passed away from Alzheimer’s disease on September 15, 2007.