Early signs of mental decline often involve memory lapses, trouble finding words, difficulty with complex tasks (like managing finances), disorientation in familiar places, personality changes (irritability, withdrawal), and poor judgment, differing from normal aging by their increasing frequency and impact on daily function, with frequent forgetfulness, language issues, mood shifts, and impaired problem-solving being key indicators to watch for.
One of the earliest signs of cognitive decline is memory loss that disrupts daily life, like forgetting recently learned information, important dates, or misplacing things and asking for them repeatedly, often accompanied by trouble finding the right words or following conversations. These changes go beyond normal aging, impacting daily functioning and often noticed by family, and can include difficulty with familiar tasks, planning, or getting disoriented in familiar places.
If you just don't feel like yourself, it could be a sign you need to take care of your mental health.
“… most abilities tend to peak in early midlife, plateau until the late fifties or sixties, and then show decline, initially at a slow pace, but accelerating as the late seventies are reached.” (Schaie, 1989).
Memory loss that disrupts daily life
Others include forgetting important dates or events, asking the same questions over and over, and increasingly needing to rely on memory aids (e.g., reminder notes or electronic devices) or family members for things they used to handle on their own.
Various medical conditions can contribute to cognitive decline. For example, dementia and Alzheimer's disease are among the most common causes. Stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, hearing loss, and Parkinson's disease are other medical conditions that can negatively affect cognitive function.
The strongest risk factors for mild cognitive impairment are:
At 57, it's about how well we have managed the physical changes that come with middle age and menopause; at 70, it's about how well we have kept our brains stimulated in the run up to and post-retirement, and at 78, it's related to levels of those 'cognitive reserves' we have built up by challenging ourselves to do ...
Several common habits significantly increase dementia risk, including physical inactivity, poor diet, excessive alcohol use, smoking, poor sleep, social isolation, hearing loss, and poor oral hygiene, while managing conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes also plays a crucial role in brain health. Adopting healthier habits like regular exercise, staying socially connected, and managing health conditions can help lower your chances of developing dementia.
The Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination, or SAGE test, is a short test you take by yourself to check for early signs of cognitive impairment. These can include mild cognitive impairment or dementia. It's not a diagnostic test. It's a screening tool that helps identify possible signs of cognitive decline.
The five-word test for dementia is a quick screening tool where a person remembers five simple, unrelated words, recalls them immediately, then recalls them again after a short distraction (like a few minutes of conversation or simple math) to assess short-term memory, often used to spot early signs of cognitive decline like in Alzheimer's. It checks the ability to learn, store, and retrieve new information, with poor delayed recall suggesting the need for further medical evaluation for mild cognitive impairment or dementia.
To better understand the progression of cognitive impairment, it's helpful to know the four levels:
That age, based on brain scans and tests covering 19,300 individuals, is on average around 44 years. It's here that degeneration starts to be noticeable, before hitting its most rapid rate at age 67. By the time we reach 90, the speed of brain aging levels off.
From staying active and eating well to getting quality sleep and fostering social connections, small lifestyle changes can help slow cognitive decline and promote mental sharpness.
Starting in your 60s, you may notice normal cognitive aging when your brain's processing speed slows down. You may not readily recall the name of a childhood friend or forget where you parked the car. You might take longer to calculate a restaurant tip in your head.
The frequency of cognitive deficit due to various causes is difficult to predict and is not well established. However, increasing age is the most important factor for cognitive impairment. Alzheimer disease is the most well-known condition associated with cognitive impairment.
Get Your Regular Exercise In
The Alzheimer's Research & Prevention Foundation states that regular exercise can reduce your risk of Alzheimer's by up to 50 percent. According to their research, exercise helps the brain make new connections and protect old ones, which works to prevent Alzheimer's and other dementias.
When a person is diagnosed with dementia they may not understand or accept their diagnosis. They may also have limited or no awareness of their symptoms and the difficulties they are having, even when these are obvious to those around them.
Cognitive dysfunction is a primary symptom of schizophrenia and some affective disorders. That is why the cognitive problems are evident even when other symptoms are controlled – even when people are not psychotic, or in an affective episode.