Editing Muscle memory (section)

=== Effect of Alzheimer's disease ===
It has been suggested that consistent practice of a gross motor skill can help a patient with [[Alzheimer's disease]] learn and remember that skill.  It was thought that the damage to the [[hippocampus]] may result in the need for a specific type of learning requirement.<ref name="Dick">{{cite journal |last1=Dick |first1=M. B. |last2=Shankle |first2=R. W. |last3=Beth |first3=R. E. |last4=Dick-Muehlke |first4=C. |last5=Cotman |first5=C. W. |last6=Kean |first6=M. L. |year=1996 |title=Acquisition and long-term retention of a gross motor skill in Alzheimer's disease patients under constant and varied practice conditions |journal=The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences |volume=51B |issue=2 |pages=103–111 |doi=10.1093/geronb/51B.2.P103 |pmid=8785686 |doi-access=free }}</ref> A study was created to test this assumption in which the patients were trained to throw a bean bag at a target.<ref name="Dick" /> It was found that the Alzheimer's patients performed better on the task when learning occurred under constant training as opposed to variable.  Also, it was found that gross motor memory in Alzheimer's patients was the same as that of healthy adults when learning occurs under constant practice.<ref name="Dick" /> This suggests that damage to the hippocampal system does not impair an Alzheimer's patient from retaining new gross motor skills, implying that motor memory for gross motor skills is stored elsewhere in the brain. However there isn't much evidence provided on this.