&NA;The Acupuncture Pilot Study for Persons with Dementia is the first study in the United States to examine acupuncture as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VD). Funded by the Helen Bader Foundation, the study was conducted from 1997 to 1999 at Wellesley College's Center for Research on Women. The study, which included 11 treatment participants and no controls, demonstrated that acupuncture may be a feasible and effective treatment for depression and anxiety in Americans with AD or VD. All enrolled participants completed at least 22 acupuncture needling treatments and every required evaluation. Using paired sample t‐tests, statistically significant improvements were found in three of the four scales used to assess the effect of acupuncture on mood.