The neuropsychology of dementia

Abstract

Dementia is a common disorder which may be due to a number of different conditions including Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies and frontal lobe dementias. Neuropsychological assessment has an important role to play in establishing differential diagnosis and in terms of informing management and monitoring response to recently introduced antidementia drugs. This review briefly summarises the key clinical and neuropsychological features of the different dementias and then discusses both clinically useful screening tests and more detailed cognitive assessment batteries that are frequently used in dementia, as well as the purpose and content of clinical neuropsychological testing.