There is still little empirical research observing the process of diagnostic disclosure in dementia. Studies exploring the views of patients and their families suggest this should be an ongoing process with the provision of support and information tailored to individual needs. The term "Alzheimer's disease" appears to have more negative connotations than the word "dementia".

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Aggressive encounters between animals often involve significant amounts of signalling before or in lieu of physical fights. When, as is often the case, these apparent threat signals are neither inherently costly nor inherently indicative of fighting ability, we should ask whether they are in fact honest signals, i.e. do they predict that escalation is imminent? While signalling theories have indicated that such 'conventional' threat signals can honestly predict escalation, attempts to gather supporting empirical evidence have mostly failed. For example, recent studies in songbirds of song type matching (replying to an opponent's song with the same song type he has just sung) have failed to confirm that it predicts an eventual attack by the signaller. In the present study of song sparrows (Melospiza melodia), we tested the hypothesis that song type matching is an early threat signal in a hierarchical signalling system. We used an improved model-playback design that simulated an escalating intrusion onto the subject's territory: the simulated opponent first sang in hiding from the boundary before moving to the centre of the territory, where he revealed himself and continued to sing. We found that type matching beginning in the boundary phase and continuing into the escalation phase, or beginning immediately after the escalation, reliably predicted both subsequent escalated signalling (soft songs and wing waves) and subsequent attack on the model, supporting the hypothesis that type matching is a reliable early threat signal.

In a field study, we show that a young song sparrow (i) selects his songs from three or four older birds who have neighboring territories, (ii) preferentially learns song types that these tutor neighbors share, and (ui) ultimately sets up his territory next to, or replaces, one of these tutor neighbors. The consequence of this song learning strategy is that the young bird's song repertoire represents the "logical intersection" of the song repertoires of his tutor neighbors. We argue that this repertoire is optimally designed for mimicry (sounding like your neighbors) and for communication between neighbors (song sparrows address or reply to a neighbor with a song they share with that neighbor).Song learning in passerine birds is a selective process in which the young bird retains in his final, adult repertoire only a fraction of the many song types to which he is exposed (1). Despite considerable theoretical interest in the design and function of song repertoires (2-6), however, little is known about the variables determining which of the "tutor" songs are selected for the song repertoire, other than that conspecific songs are preferred over heterospecific songs. To test the hypothesis that social variables are the key determinant of song selection, we studied song learning in a free-living population df song sparrows (Melospiza melodia).In this study, we tested a model of song learning derived from three sets of observations. First, in many (but not all) songbird species, birds share their song types with neighbors, with the resemblances in some cases being so close as to Suggest that one bird learned the song type from the other (7). Second, young male song sparrows, starting in the summer of their hatching year, "float" on the territories of several adjacent territorial males and eventually (usually by the following summer) try to set up a territory in this floater range (see refs. 8 and 9; unpublished observations). Third, in song sparrows (and many other songbirds) the early part of a bird's life (especially his second and third months) is critical in the formation of his song repertoire (10). Since we have never observed a male song sparrow to add of drop a song type between his first breeding season and subsequent years, we assume that a.young song sparrow's repertoire crystallizes sometime in his first year of life, possibly as early as his hatching summer. Putting these observations together, we hypothesized that during this floater period the young bird learns the song types of some or all of the territorial males in his floater range. To test this hypothesis, we attempted to trace the song tutors for a sample of young male sparrows from our study population.In this paper, we follow conventional usage and call the bird from whom the song was learned the tutor (the learner is the student). We do not mean to imply by these terms that the older bird actively teaches the younger bird (although he may) or that the younger bird is a passive learner (indeed our evidence suggests quite otherwise Wash-...

Background:In this paper, we report progress on “Neighborhoods: our people, our places” an international study about how people living with dementia interact with their neighborhoods. The ideas of social health and citizenship are drawn upon to contextualize the data and make a case for recognizing and understanding the strengths and agency of people with dementia. In particular, we address the lived experience of the environment as a route to better understanding the capabilities, capacities, and competencies of people living with dementia. In doing this, our aim is to demonstrate the contribution of social engagement and environmental support to social health.Methods:The study aims to “map” local spaces and networks across three field sites (Manchester, Central Scotland and Linkoping, Sweden). It employs a mix of qualitative and participatory approaches that include mobile and visual methods intended to create knowledge that will inform the design and piloting of a neighborhood-based intervention.Results:Our research shows that the neighborhood plays an active role in the lives of people with dementia, setting limits, and constraints but also offering significant opportunities, encompassing forms of help and support as yet rarely discussed in the field of dementia studies. The paper presents new and distinctive insights into the relationship between neighborhoods and everyday life for people with dementia that have important implications for the debate on social health and policy concerning dementia friendly communities.Conclusion:We end by reflecting on the messages for policy and practice that are beginning to emerge from this on-going study.

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Previous theory and research have suggested that bird species with song repertoires in general, and song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) in particular, cannot readily discriminate between the songs of neighbors and strangers. In a recent study (Stoddard et al. 1991) we showed that song sparrows can in fact discriminate neighbors from strangers on the basis of song. In this study we sought to demonstrate that song sparrows can make the finer discrimination between individual neighbors and that they can do so on the basis of a single song type. We compared the response of territorial males to song playback of neighbors and strangers at three locations : the neighbor's regular boundary, the opposite boundary, and the center of the territory. The birds showed strong neighbor-stranger discrimination at the regular boundary but not at the opposite boundary, nor in the center of the territory. The differences in song discrimination between different boundary locations indicate that song sparrows associate particular songs with particular territories, effectively discriminating between individual neighbors on the basis of song. Song repertoires themselves do not interfere with neighbor recognition to the extent originally postulated. As speakers are moved inside the territory from the border, however, the degree of discrimination diminishes. We believe that differences in speaker placement may have contributed to the variability in neighbor-stranger discrimination observed in previous studies of the song sparrow and perhaps other repertoire species as well. This interpretation is consistent with data from another song sparrow population showing that half the territory takeovers are by immediate neighbors.

Service providers should review the process of assessment and diagnosis disclosure for people with cognitive impairment and their carers. They should develop a process that is person centred and accommodates the individualised preferences. The development of service systems to provide continuous relevant information and clarity to service users needs to involve all stakeholders, including people with cognitive impairment and their carers.