The neuropsychological assessment of dementia.
It has become standard practice to base the diagnosis of dementia on the combination of neuropsychological and non-behavioral findings. The present article provides a short, clinically oriented synopsis of the targets, investigational procedures, and difficulties of the modern neuropsychological approach to the diagnosis of dementia. Over the years, neuropsychology has developed assessment tools to evaluate the cognitive and behavioral abnormalities of many dementias. Validated tests of memory, language, executive, and other cognitive functions are used to screen for dementia and identifying certain dementia profiles. Behavioral assessment procedures are available for non-cognitive neurodegenerative alterations. At present, problems arise mainly with the behavioral heterogeneity of certain dementia syndromes. Especially problematic are discrimination of age-associated or mild cognitive impairments from incipient dementia and the impact of psychiatric symptoms on cognitive functions. It is concluded that neuropsychology offers a valuable contribution to the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of dementia.
Benke
Thomas
T
University Clinic of Neurology, Innsbruck, Austria. thomas.benke@uibk.ac.at
Karner
Elfriede
E