Gerhard S. The Neuropsychology of Dementia - A Clinician's Manual

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024. — 220 p.Essential Background Knowledge.Overview.What Is Dementia?
How Common Is Dementia?
Diagnosis of Dementia and Dementia Subtypes.
Similarities and differences between dementia/major neurocognitive disorder and mild cognitive impairment/minor neurocognitive disorder: DSM-V
Toxic Agents.
Different forms of dementia and associated proteinopathy
Mixed Dementia.
Risk Factors and Protective Factors.
Dementia and Age: An Accumulation of Events.
Examples of average age of onset for different dementia types
Genetics and Epigenetics.
Blood Supply.
Inflammation.
Sleep and the Glymphatic System.
Cognitive Reserve and Thresholds for Dementia.
Connectomics.
How Important Is Differential Diagnosis?
The Role of Imaging and Biomarkers.
The Scope of This Book.
Key Points.Diagnosing Dementia.
Diagnosis and Formulation.
Expert and Novice Diagnosticians.
Establishing a Context.
Differences between expert and novice emergency doctors, taken from Shubert et al. (2013).
Suggested relevant information to collect when taking a clinical history to establish a context
Establishing Whether Someone Has Dementia?
Evidence for Cognitive Impairment.
Examples of cognitive screening instruments in common use
Establishing a Change in Everyday Function.
Examples of instruments to assess function
Dementia Severity.
Things to Consider Other Than Dementia.
Delirium.
Mental Health Problems.
Medication.
Sensory Impairment.
Medical Problems.
Imaging.
Examples of bio-markers which may be important when considering possible causes of cognitive decline
Key Points.
Appendix A: Case Studies.
Case Study: LL.
Presentation.
Educational and Occupational Background.
Case Study: BS.
Presentation.
Educational and Occupational Background.
Activities of Daily Living.
Cognitive Assessment.
Medical History.
Imaging Data.
Lifestyle Factors.
Family History.
Blood Tests.Appendix B Dementia Checklist.
Appendix C: MCI/Dementia Decision Tree.Functional Neuroanatomy.
Circuits: A General Principle of Brain Organization.
Neurons, Axons, and Dendrites.
Example of a neuron.
Grey Matter and White Matter.
Basal ganglia are about the cortex.
The Cortex.
Motor and sensory regions of the cortex.
Cognitive Processes and Associated Circuits.
Perception.
Language.
Memory.
Original structures thought to be involved in the Papez circuit
Attention.
Sagittal view of the brain, illustrating the locations of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and cingulate cortex.
Executive Function.
Emotion/Affect.
Key Points.Neuropsychological Assessment in Dementia Diagnosis.
Who Can Undertake a Neuropsychological Assessment?
When Is a Neuropsychological Assessment Required?
Assumptions Underlying Neuropsychological Assessment.
Psychometrics.
The normal distribution, showing the relationship between standard deviations, z scores, and T scores.
Types of Scores.
Standard scores that are likely to be encountered in clinical practice.
Corresponding index scores, scaled scores, percentiles, and classifications
How to Tell If a Score Is Significant?
Estimating Premorbid Ability.
Base Rates.
Evaluating Change.
Table 4.3 Aspects of cognitive function to cover as part of a neuropsychological assessment.
What Should Be Covered in a Neuropsychological Assessment for Dementia?
Test Selection.
Performance Validity.
Key Points.
Appendix D Formulas and Calculations.Diagnosing Different Types of Dementia.
Alzheimer’s Disease.
Prevalence and Incidence.
European prevalence rates for Alzheimer’s disease in different age ranges.
North American prevalence rates for Alzheimer’s Disease in different age ranges.
European incidence rates for Alzheimer’s Disease in different age ranges.
European incidence rates for Alzheimer’s Disease in different age ranges
Time Course and the DAT Continuum.
Pathology.
A proposed continuum to describe the progression of DAT (Aisen et al., 2017)
Genetics.
Diagnostic Criteria.
Neuropsychological Assessment.
Most Sensitive Tests for Alzheimer’s Disease.
Atypical Presentations.
Posterior Cortical Atrophy.
Vascular Dementia.
Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson’s, Parkinson’s Dementia, and Parkinson’s Plus.
Frontotemporal Dementia.
Alcohol-Related Brain Damage.
Intervention.
Cognitive Rehabilitation.
Pharmacological Interventions.
Reducing Risk Factors for Mild Cognitive Impairment and Early Dementia.
Recent Developments/Contemporary Issues.
Biomarkers and Imaging.
Dementia and Mental Capacity.