Memory Loss, Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia

Andrew E. Budson, M.D. is Chief of Cognitive & Behavioral Neurology, Associate Chief of Staff for Education, and Director of the Center for Translational Cognitive Neuroscience at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Boston Healthcare System, Associate Director for Research at the Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center, Professor of Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, and Lecturer in Neurology at Harvard Medical School. He is also the Medical Director of the Boston Center for Memory, located in Newton, Massachusetts. His training included graduating cum laude from Harvard Medical School, being chief resident of the Harvard-Longwood Neurology Residency Program, pursuing a fellowship in dementia at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and studying memory as a post-doctoral fellow in experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience at Harvard University. Dr. Budson has had government research funding since 1998, receiving a National Research Service Award and a Career Development Award in addition to a Research Project (R01) grant. He has given over 425 local, national, and international grand rounds and other academic talks. He has published over 100 papers, reviews, and book chapters and is a reviewer for more than 40 journals. He has co-authored or edited five books, including Memory Loss, Alzheimer's Disease, and Dementia: A Practical Guide for Clinicians, the second edition of which has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese. He was awarded the Norman Geschwind Prize in Behavioral Neurology in 2008 and the Research Award in Geriatric Neurology in 2009, both from the American Academy of Neurology. His current research uses the techniques of experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience to understand memory in patients with Alzheimer's disease. In his memory disorders clinic at the VA Boston Healthcare System he treats patients while teaching fellows, residents, and medical students. He also sees patients in Newton at the Boston Center for Memory Dr. Paul Solomon is a founder and the Director of the Boston Center for Memory in Newton, MA. He specializes in Clinical Neuropsychology and Clinical Neuroscience. Dr. Solomon is also an Investigator of the Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center, Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Solomon has received numerous awards including a Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Massachusetts, a National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health, and a National Needs Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Science Foundation, and two clinical research awards from the American Association of Family Physicians. He has been elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society. He is listed in Who's Who in America, American Men and Women of Science, Who's Who in Education, and Who's Who in Frontier Science and Technology. Dr. Solomon has served on the Editorial Board of several journals and serves as an external reviewer for numerous journals and granting agencies. He has served on the advisory boards of the Northeastern New York Alzheimer's Association and the MA/NH Chapter Alzheimer's Association. He has delivered more than 500 lectures nationally and internationally widely at colleges and universities on age-related memory disorders and at medical centers and hospitals on the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

SECTION I: EVALUATING THE PATIENT WITH MEMORY LOSS

1. Why Diagnose and Treat Memory Loss, Alzheimer's Disease, and Dementia?

2. Evaluating the Patient with Memory Loss or Dementia

3. Approach to the Patient with Memory Loss, Mild Cognitive Impairment, or Dementia

SECTION II: DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS OF MEMORY LOSS

4. Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment due to Alzheimer's Disease

5. Alzheimer's Look-Alikes: Primary Age-Related Tauopathy (PART) and Limbic-predominant, Age-related TDP-43 Encephalopathy (LATE)

6. Dementia with Lewy Bodies (Including Parkinson's Disease Dementia)

7. Posterior Cortical Atrophy

8. Vascular Dementia and Vascular Cognitive Impairment

9. Primary Progressive Aphasia & Other Disorders of Speech

10. Frontotemporal Dementia

11. Progressive Supranuclear Palsy

12. Corticobasal Degeneration

13. Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

14. Jakob-Creutzfeldt Disease

15. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

16. Other Disorders That Disrupt Memory

SECTION III: TREATMENT OF MEMORY LOSS

17. Goals of Treatment of Memory Loss, Alzheimer's Disease, and Dementia

18. Cholinesterase Inhibitors

19. Memantine (Generic and Namenda XR)

20. Vitamins, Herbs, Supplements, and Anti-Inflammatories

21. Future Treatments of Memory Loss

22. Physical exercise, Diet, Strategies, and Non-Pharmacological Treatment of Memory Loss

SECTION IV: BEHAVIORAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS OF DEMENTIA

23. Evaluating the Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia

24. Caring For and Educating the Caregiver

25. Non-Pharmacological Treatment of the Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia

26. Pharmacological Treatment of the Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia

SECTION V: ADDITIONAL ISSUES

27. Life Adjustments

28. Legal and Financial Issues

29. Special Issues

ONLINE ONLY APPENDICES

APPENDIX A: Cognitive Test and Questionnaire Forms, Instructions, and Normative Data

APPENDIX B: Screening for Memory Loss

APPENDIX C: Our Current Understanding of Memory