Dementia – Normal Cognition
- Occasionally an evaluation of suspected cognitive impairment will lead to a diagnosis of normal cognition. This is true if their cognitive testing is preserved, the patient does not have any concerns, and there are no abnormalities detected on the provider’s exam.
- Some cognitive changes can be a normal part of aging!
- Processing speed, fluid intelligence, visual construction, and mental flexibility, among other abilities, decline with age. (Normal Cognitive Aging)
- However, it can be difficult to know what is normal with aging and what is not. As Jonathan Schott states in a review of aging, focusing on individual changes is helpful: “Often the signs typically associated with ‘normal’ ageing and pathology can overlap…. In general, ‘within-individual’ changes are likely to be more powerful than comparisons between individuals.”
- Some cognitive changes can be a normal part of aging!
- Examples of behaviors that can be normal in aging:
- Forgetting an appointment
- Making an occasional error in the checkbook
- Forgetting the date but remembering it later
- Misplacing an object but usually being able to retrace steps to find it
- Occasionally having trouble finding a word
- See table 2 in this article for a more thorough list of behaviors that can be associated with normal aging