Editorial Introduction to the Special Issue on Neuropsychological Assessment in Aging

Excerpt

As the post-war 'baby boom' generation advances in age, a majority of countries are facing a health care crisis as the incidence of dementia rapidly increases (Alzheimer's Association, 2017). Many researchers are investigating potential biomarkers for early disease detection (Sperling et al. 2011) and trialing new drugs to halt neurodegenerative diseases (Hardy and De Strooper, 2017). However, there remains an ongoing debate relating to the best methods for detecting preclinical or prodromal changes in cognition associated with neurodegenerative diseases and differentiating these changes from the typical developmental changes of healthy aging (Snyder et al. 2014). An added complication to the detection of preclinical and clinical cognitive changes is the impact of secondary chronic diseases on cognition as well as ongoing generational changes in demographic factors, such as level of education, impacting on the sensitivity and psychometric properties of our neuropsychological measures of cognitive function. …