Mental decline in normal aging: a review.
A considerable degree of mental decline is evident in most persons of advanced age. This article argues that this is due to a life-span deterioration, beginning in early adulthood, and that it is not an artifact of motor or mental slowness or educational disadvantage in the elderly; nor is it attributable to a cohort effect. The decline is seen not as natural but as a subclinical dementia that is produced by small pathological changes in the brain due to various medical/pathological conditions, some of which are treatable.
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Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008606:Mental Processes; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D014888:Wechsler Scales