Is It Normal Memory Loss or Early Dementia?

Worried about your memory? Take our quiz below

Elizabeth Agnvall and Andy Markowitz

En español

Published November 12, 2021

10 Questions

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Is It Normal Memory Loss or Early Dementia?

[ {
  "question" : "The kids and grandkids show up for their regular weekly Sunday dinner — and you completely forgot they were coming.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Warning sign of early dementia",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Normal age-related memory loss",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Forgetting a doctor’s appointment or hair appointment you made weeks ago is not a big deal, but forgetting something you’ve long done on a set day is a different matter. “From time to time, we all lose track of time,” says Jason Karlawish, M.D., a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and codirector of the Penn Memory Center, “but forgetting orientation to the day of the week, especially for a habitual activity, is concerning.” You may be developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which is often — but not always — a precursor to dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease. The annual conversion rate is about 15 percent, Karlawish says, meaning that out of 100 people diagnosed with MCI, 15 will develop full dementia within a year. About 50 percent convert within four or five years.",
  "hint" : "",
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  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : "Brain light / Alamy Stock Photo"
}, {
  "question" : "You want to ask your neighbor about his daughter, who has just finished her freshman year of college. But you can’t remember her name — until later.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Warning sign of early dementia",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Normal age-related memory loss",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "That tip-of-the-tongue feeling is most likely not a reason to worry. “When word-finding problems are a part of normal aging, the problem happens occasionally in conversations and the word often ‘comes back’ after a few minutes,” says Kimberly Mueller, who studies age-related changes in speech and language patterns at the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. If these retrieval problems — using pronouns instead of names you can’t remember, for example, or peppering conversation with “ums” and “ahhs” as your brain struggles to find a word — become more frequent and disruptive, it could signal the mild cognitive impairment that may lead to Alzheimer’s disease dementia, Mueller says.",
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}, {
  "question" : "You sometimes look in the mirror and don’t recognize yourself. It’s the strangest thing.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Warning sign of early dementia",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Normal age-related memory loss",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "We’re not talking about being struck by seeing your crow’s feet, but literally not knowing your own reflection. Difficulty recognizing everyday objects — including your face — is an early sign of serious memory loss, according to Michael Rafii, M.D., medical director of the Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. The institute is partnering with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and the Cleveland Clinic on the APT Webstudy (www.aptwebstudy.org), a large-scale research effort that uses periodic online memory tests to help identify older adults at higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s.",
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}, {
  "question" : "You always miss the turn to get to the grandkids’ regular soccer field.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Warning sign of early dementia",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Normal age-related memory loss",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Consider using the GPS on your phone, but don't be overly concerned that it's dementia. If you’ve always misplaced your keys or often get distracted while driving, you’re probably just absentminded. This is usually due to gaps in attention rather than more serious cognitive conditions, and it often worsens with age. Luckily, this is something that can be improved — even when you are older — by working on your brain’s ability to focus. If you’ve always had an incredible sense of direction but now can’t remember how to get to places you know well, then you may have a problem.",
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}, {
  "question" : "You find your glasses in the freezer, your watch in the flowerpot or other objects in strange places.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Warning sign of early dementia",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Normal age-related memory loss",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "This kind of behavior might sound humorous, but it’s more troubling than occasionally losing track of your wallet, phone or keys. Misplacing things and being unable to retrace steps to find them is a sign of Alzheimer’s and dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. If you do find you are misplacing items from time to time, which is common as you age, you may be able to help the problem with more attention to input, says Ronald Petersen, M.D., director of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Decide where these things will go and always put them in the same place (like your mom told you long ago).",
  "hint" : "",
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}, {
  "question" : "You’re finding it harder to use your smartphone. Apps and functions you use regularly no longer seem to work, and you can’t figure out why.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Warning sign of early dementia",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Normal age-related memory loss",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Forgetting passwords or having trouble reading a tablet or smartphone screen could be due to normal memory loss, visual impairment or low light, but “progressive declines in being able to interact with one of these devices could be considered a warning sign,” Rafii says. What’s more, occasionally needing help with the settings on the microwave or TV is pretty normal, but increasing difficulty in navigating a digital device or an appliance could signal an erosion of executive function, the ability to organize information and solve problems.",
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}, {
  "question" : "You’ve always made the pies for Thanksgiving dinner, but this year you had to really focus and it took longer than usual.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Warning sign of early dementia",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Normal age-related memory loss",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "If the pies came out OK, it’s likely not a cause for concern. While age-related changes in cognition “can cause someone to take longer to do a task like that, they don’t generally impair someone’s ability to do it,” Karlawish says. The time to worry is if you find yourself getting lost in the process or making mistakes that cause a dish you’ve made for years to go wrong. Changes in your ability to successfully perform tasks that rely on concentration and attention to detail, like following a familiar recipe or staying on top of the bills, are classic signs of cognitive decline that warrant a medical assessment, Karlawish says.",
  "hint" : "",
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}, {
  "question" : "Your spouse tells you that you ask the same questions repeatedly.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Warning sign of early dementia",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Normal age-related memory loss",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Telling the same stories at every party is fine (if sometimes irritating), but asking the same question or repeating yourself often within the same hour is more troublesome. You may just be distracted or having a bad day, but if you repeatedly forget what you’ve just said, you definitely should talk to your doctor. Family members are often the first to notice serious memory problems, Petersen says, so listen to your loved ones.",
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}, {
  "question" : "Your mother recently passed away after a long illness. You are sleeping terribly and having trouble remembering everything, from meetings with lawyers to where you put her papers.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Warning sign of early dementia",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Normal age-related memory loss",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Grief and sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on your memory. But while memory problems linked to mental stress and bad sleep are not necessarily signs of dementia, they are cause for concern. “Sleep disturbances have been associated with increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease in older adults,” says Brendan Lucey, a neurologist at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis who specializes in sleep medicine. Chronic stress is linked to harmful inflammation that is a villain in many brain diseases. Research led by Washington University’s Hope Center for Neurological Disorders has found that sleep deprivation increases the toxic proteins that gunk up the brains of those with Alzheimer’s, and that deep, restorative sleep helps remove them, opening up the possibility that better sleep could help prevent or delay dementia, Lucey says.",
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}, {
  "question" : "Your daughter comments that you haven’t been remembering things that her children tell you, and she’s not sure if you’re not listening or need your ears checked.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Warning sign of early dementia",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Normal age-related memory loss",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "There’s a lot of gray area here, and not being able to remember recent conversations is quite different from not hearing them in the first place. But both can be early indicators of worsening cognitive performance in older adults. A growing body of research has linked hearing loss to dementia, including a review in the medical journal The Lancet, which found that mild to moderate hearing loss may be associated with a significantly higher risk of dementia in older adults — greater than the risk attributed to most other factors. The findings are “especially important because so many older adults have hearing loss, and it can be treated,” says Jennifer Deal, an epidemiologist at the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Researchers believe hearing loss may cause dementia through its effects on the brain, or by making people more socially isolated and less active, and are studying whether using hearing aids can reduce dementia risk.",
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} ]

Quiz Progress

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