Dr. Alice Howland

Alice Howland is fifty years old, a professor in Harvard's psychology department, and says she has never felt better. Then she begins to forget things. She puts it down to her busy life, her age, and the fact that she's going through menopause. Her doctor refers Alice to a neurologist who diagnoses Alice with Alzheimer's. Alice is devastated and tries to argue that the diagnosis must be wrong. It's part of her nature to seek out alternative answers and it takes her some time to accept the diagnosis.

Alice is a strong, intelligent woman, and the neurologist points out that this has probably delayed the outward signs of Alzheimer's. Alice uses her intelligence to search for clues, answering questions and solving problems through reasoning even when she can't remember the answers. She continues to use that intelligence even when her ability to remember things drops dramatically...