ABSTRACT
This chapter starts with a general description of dementia, its epidemiology, and distinguishes it from the physiological process of aging. Current definitions of dementia and clinicopathologic correlations in dementia are considered before the historical aspects of the use of the term Alzheimer's disease’ are discussed. The basic pathology of Alzheimer's disease is described and then the major brain areas are discussed in terms of a neuropsychological view of cognitive and behavioural functioning. The concluding section appeals for professional care-givers to work with those functions that are spared, for as long as they are spared, i.e. to provide stage-specific care, and to make the environments for care-giving as rich and stimulating as possible.
