Family Solicitors

A Birmingham start-up is developing a mobile app to help people in the early stages of dementia who are experiencing loss of memory.

The Birmingham Post reports that the Memrica Project is being funded by the Nominet Trust – a “tech for good” funding body – to develop the “Memrica Prompt” app.

Memrica is based at the Innovation Birmingham Campus – the app aims to help early-stage dementia patients overcome the frustration of memory lapses involving forgetting vital information.

The app works by using association to set up a virtual link between facts people want to remember and the objects or people around them.

A reminder system collates data, images and voice files and prompts the user about daily tasks so that people with dementia do not have to feel anxious in case they forget a crucial piece of information, such as a name or number.

People with dementia and their families and carers are helping develop the app, which should help increase confidence in a dementia patient and help them to live independently for longer without the need for more intensive health and social care.

Founder of Memrica, Mary Matthews, said:
“Memrica Prompt is a memory aid that can be built over time with photos, prompts, references and calendar notes to make all aspects of everyday life easier – such as going to the hairdresser or doctor, as well as relating to family and friends.”

Dementia risk is usually higher for people over the age of 50 – but 8% of those with dementia are under the age of 65.

Early-stage symptoms of dementia may be misdiagnosed or confused with symptoms of other conditions such as depression or stress, which can also affect memory and the ability to retain and store information, as a result of the effect of low levels of dopamine and serotonin on the hippocampus – the memory centre in the brain which also controls organising skills and influences sleep, appetite and sex drive.

People who have suffered bereavement, redundancy, divorce or bankruptcy may have low levels of the “happiness chemicals” serotonin and dopamine, resulting in disturbed sleep or insomnia, lack of interest in life, depression – and poor memory or concentration skills.

In dementia – the most well-known form of which is Alzheimer’s disease – one of the first signs may be a loss of sense of direction or planning capabilities, with early stage dementia patients getting lost or feeling lost in familiar surroundings and being unable to work out which direction to take, even in a landscape they know.

Dementia patients and Alzheimer’s patients may retain the ability to recall events long past, however – such as childhood family events or war-time events – but are unable to retain new information or recall recent events, as the brain’s ability to learn becomes diminished.

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