ABSTRACT
The early detection of dementia is important for a number of reasons. Dementia is one of the most significant health and social care challenges. It is a clinical syndrome of acquired cognitive impairment produced by brain dysfunction. Clinical assessment is an important part of the diagnostic process and should include a mental state examination, a physical examination and information should be obtained from other sources, especially carers. Structural neuroimaging is useful in the diagnostic work-up for patients with dementia, helping to exclude potentially reversible causes of dementia assessing usually acceptable levels as normal decreasing brain volume, grey and white matter according to age. Event-related potentials are changes in brain electrical activity, as recorded by scalp electrodes, in response to external stimulation of one of the many sensory tracts in the brain. The electroencephalogram is a potentially useful measure in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and slowing of alpha frequency and increased theta and delta activity are observed.
