Dementia

Abstract

Dementia is a condition of persistent decline in multiple mental domains essential to normal daily living. There are several major syndromes of dementia, each with particular domains of impairment which are predominant in the early stages. These primary domains are memory, language, attention, and social functioning. Other areas which can be affected include semantic knowledge, visuospatial skills, executive functions, and emotion or personality [1]. For a diagnosis of dementia, impairment must be severe enough to alter a person's former level of functioning, and not be present only in the course of delirium. Although the preponderance of cases of dementia occurs in the elderly, dementia is not limited to any age bracket and does occur in the young and middle aged. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.