| A | B |
|---|
| ageism | an assumption that older people are incompetent or senile & somehow an inferior segment of society |
| aging | manifestation of changes that advance in a continuous & progressive manner during the adult years |
| agnosia | loss of comprehension of auditory, visual or other sensations although sensory sphere is intact |
| Alzheimer's dementia (AD) | chronic, organic mental disorder/dementia due to atrophy of frontal & occipital lobes that involves progressive, irreversible loss of memory, deterioration of intellectual functions, apathy & disorientation |
| amnestic disorders | disturbance in memory that is due to either direct physilogic effects of a general medical condition or trauma, buth without peronsality change or impairment in abstact thinking or judgment |
| anomia | inability to remember the names of objects |
| aphasia | condition characterized by either partial or total loss of the ability to communicate verbally or using written words |
| apraxia | inability to perform purposeful movements although there is no sensory or motor impairment |
| catastophic events | overwhelming state of anxiety or panic experienced by an individual with dementia in reponse to any type of new situation related to an inability to process environmental observations accurately |
| confabulation | behavioral reaction to memory loss in which the person fills in memory gaps with inappropriate words |
| delirium | state of mental confusion & excitement that happens in a short period of time & is characterized by disorientation for time & place, usually with illusions & hallucinations |
| dementia | broad impairment of inellectual function that usually is progressive & that interferes with normal social & occupational activities |
| disorientation | inability to be cogizant of time, direction or location, & person |
| Lewy body dementia | progressive dementia similar to AD in which round deposits of protein called Lewy bodies develop in nerve cells throughout the brain. Visual hallucinations & intermitent mental alertness are distinguishing symptoms |
| primary aging | changes that result from genetics or natural factors |
| secondary aging | changes that are influenced by environmental factors |
| sundowning syndrome | increase in psychiatric symptoms of psychomotor restlessness & confusion at nght or during the evening hours |
| vascular dementia | dementia in which there are multiple large & small cerebral infarcts leading to a step-like pattern of dementia |
