The relation of age associated changes of cognitive functions to those of @entity303 is not well investigated for very old age. Because aging as well as @entity303 are associated with @entity73 , this leads to differential diagnostic problems in very old age. Relevant with respect to this differentiation are on the one hand the concepts of cognitive ageing, the @entity303 and @entity303 , and on the other hand empirical findings with respect to 1. the neuropsychological crossectional pattern, 2. the premorbid intelligence or adult intelligence level, 3. the speed of decline. ad 1. The speed of cognitive processes shows a considerable reduction in normal aging. However, the reduction of learning and orientation as well as pronounced word-finding problems seem to be characteristic of the development of a @entity303 . ad 2. The importance of the level of adult intelligence is demonstrated by the possibility that a very old @entity1 with low adult intelligence level is diagnosed as demented without suffering from one of the @entity303 . In the opposite case of a slowly progressive @entity303 in a @entity1 with a superior level of adult intelligence a diagnosis of @entity303 according the standard criteria can be given only in an advanced stage of the disease. ad 3. The importance of the speed of decline of cognitive performance for the diagnosis of @entity303 is discussed (e.g. < 1 point of the MMSE vs > 3 MMSE points per year). An optimization of the time course criterion (change-sensitive tests and an empirically determined cut-off) could improve the early @entity303 diagnosis, which relies up to now mostly on crossectional features. The more precise assessment of the deterioration speed would be an opportunity to investigate the factors or processes which determine the deterioration speed, knowledge of which in turn would be a starting point for development of therapy.

[Normal and pathological XXXX ].

@entity303 :: ('MESH:D003704', 'Disease') :: ['dementia syndrome', 'dementia diseases', 'dementia disease', 'dementia'] @entity73 :: ('MESH:D003072', 'Disease') :: ['cognitive deficits'] @entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['person']
@entity73 :: (MESH:D003072,Disease) :: ['cognitive aging']
