ABSTRACT
Memory clinics began in the USA in the early 1980s, largely through the enterprise of Thomas Crook and colleagues. These psychologists coined the term ‘age-associated memory impairment’ for forgetfulness and slowness to remember, which was presumed to arise from the dwindling powers of the ageing brain (Crook et al., 1986). An extensive battery of computerized memory tests, reflecting daily living activities such as shopping and driving, was used in a number of memory clinics in the USA and parts of Europe, sometimes being brought to communities in a bus (the progetto memoria in Italy). The first Crookstyle memory clinic in the UK was established in Bradford.
