Mary notices that her retired mother, who formerly worked outside the home, now has difficulty recalling the names of people with whom she worked closely a few years ago. She hesitates and stammers before remembering their names, but, with enough time she usually is able to recollect names and specific details about her former colleagues. She manages the family finances, has no trouble remembering phone numbers, and manages her home and other activities of daily living easily. Her difficulties would best be categorized as:

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The description of Mary's mother most closely matches mild cognitive impairment, rather than the other diagnoses listed. Alzheimer's disease is a dementia of gradual onset in which the first symptoms may be similar to mild cognitive impairment, although deterioration gradually occurs in a person's social relationships, in the ability to manage household affairs and activities of daily living, in addition to the ability to remember people's names. Huntington's chorea is a rare, dominantly inherited neurological disease marked by involuntary movements of the body, gradually worsening emotional and behavioral disturbances, and eventual dementia. Frontotemporal dementia is term used to describe several different dementing illnesses, all of which involve atrophy of gray matter in the frontal and/or temporal lobes of the brain.

Mary Notices That Her Retired Mother, Who Formerly Worked Outside