We found ourselves wondering, what medication to Alzheimer's patients take today? How do these drugs work? So, being good little researchers, we dug around and found two major types of drugs available for Alzheimer's patients. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and NMDA receptor antagonists.

Aricept®, Exelon®, and Razydyne® (formerly Reminyl®) are all Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. The brain sends signals across itself using chemical messages. One of these messages is acetylcholine. Along the way to the reception nerve, the chemical message is broken down to be reused later. Acetylcholine is broken down by Acetylcholinesterase. The drugs known as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors block the production of acetylcholinesterase, so acetylcholine is broken down slower and so the messages can go farther distances, allowing for more communication across the brain.

Namenda® is an NMDA receptor antagonist. The glutamate in one's brain triggers one's NMDA receptors to create calcium that will then be used with other chemicals by a cell to store memory. One can infer that too much glutamate means too much calcium, which damages brain cells. NMDA receptor antagonists partially block NMDA receptors, so helping protect cells against too much glutamate.

These drugs are FDA approved and seem to have few or no long term side effects, at least according to what studies have been published till today. (Although the side effects include confusion, which is also a symptom of AD. Go figure.) These drugs help AD patients by enhancing memory (NMDA receptors) and cognitive ability (Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors). Our belief (based on research we have found) is that with our association games we can help train one's memory, and with our problem solving games we can train cognitive ability. Now we wonder exactly how well we can help patients train their brain.