L'imitation utilisée pour canaliser l'agitation dans la démence de type Alzheimer

Research has been undertaken to establish the capacity of Alzheimer patients to imitate another person during relaxation sessions used on a therapeutic basis to combat anxiety. Combining the theories of anxiety, relaxation using the methods, and imitation, we developed the hypothesis that relaxation sessions could reduce anxiety on the basis that imitation could enable the transmission of an emotional state from one person to another. After having conducted relaxation sessions in a controlled environment and in emergency situations, evaluating them on the basis of the patient's anxiety levels according to a pre-established grid, we have been able to show that Alzheimer patients can relax by imitating a third person's comportment. It appears therefore possible to calm a patient through the transmission of an emotional state thanks to the preservation, in these patients, of their procedural memory and the archaic notions of imitation.