ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with the use of structured neuropsychological and behavioral tests in the diagnosis and evaluation of persons who may have a dementing illness. The evaluation of a person with suspected dementia usually includes a clinical history, physical, and neurological examination, and often, the use of biochemical screening tests and a brain imaging study. If a patient is placed on a medication either to treat the dementia itself or to treat a comorbid condition such as depression, neuropsychological tests are useful for measuring the effect of that medication on cognitive function. Intelligence tests, aptitude tests, and neuropsychological batteries developed to identify localized brain damage are usually not appropriate for evaluating patients with suspected dementia because poor scores on these tests probably do not indicate deficits in the areas the tests were designed to assess. The two kinds of dementing conditions which are most often confused with uncomplicated alzheimer disease are vascular dementia and dementia associated with Parkinsonian changes.
