• Progressive memory loss
• Inability to concentrate
• Decrease in problem-solving skills and judgment capability
• Confusion, severe
• Hallucinations and delusions
• Altered sensation or perception
• Impaired recognition (agnosia)
  • Impaired recognition of familiar objects or persons
  • Impaired recognition through the senses
• Altered sleep patterns
  • Insomnia
  • Need for increased sleep
  • Disturbance or change in sleep-wake cycle
• Motor system impairment
  • Impaired skilled motor function (apraxia)
    • Inability to reproduce geometric figures
    • Inability to mimic hand positions
    • Inability to dress self
  • Gait changes
  • Inappropriate movements
  • Other motor system impairment
• Disorientation
  • Person, place, time disorientation
  • Visual-spatial disorientation
  • Inability to interpret environmental cues
• Specific disorders of problem-solving or learning
  • Inability to generalize
  • Loss of abstract thinking
  • Impaired calculating ability
  • Inability to learn
• Memory deficit
  • Short-term memory problems (can't remember new things)
  • Long-term memory problems (can't remember past)
• Absent or impaired language ability (aphasia)
  • Inability to comprehend speech
  • Inability to read
  • Inability to write
  • Inability to speak, without muscle paralysis
  • Inability to form words
  • Inability to name objects
  • Poor enunciation
  • Inappropriate speech; use of jargon or wrong words
  • Inability to repeat a phrase
  • Persistent repetition of phrases
  • Other language impairment
• Personality changes
  • Irritability
  • Poor temper control
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Indecisiveness
  • Self-centeredness
  • Inflexibility
  • No observable mood (flat affect)
  • Inappropriate mood or behavior
  • Withdrawal from social interaction
  • Inability to function or interact in social or personal situations
  • Inability to maintain employment
  • Decreased ability to care for oneself
  • Decreased interest in daily living activities
• Lack of spontaneity

• Swallowing problems
• Incontinence

A neurologic examination may reveal abnormalities. Early signs of dementia include mild problems with memory or attention. Over time, the following cognitive difficulties may appear:

• Language problems
• Disorientation
• Personality changes
• Visual or spatial problems
• Slow thinking
• Impaired skilled motor function (apraxia)
• Impaired recognition (agnosia)
• Difficulty with planning and organizing
• Weakness
• Incontinence
• Falling

The extent of damage and cause of dementia may be indicated by tests and procedures that include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Serum electrolytes
• Blood chemistry (chem-20)
• Serum calcium
• Glucose test
• Thyroid stimulating hormone level
• Thyroid function tests
• Liver function tests
• Blood ammonia levels
• B-12 level
• Drug or alcohol levels (toxicology screen)
• Urinalysis
• Blood gas analysis
• EEG (electroencephalograph)
• Head CT
• MRI of head
• CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) analysis