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How is dementia diagnosed?

After a person is seen for their first consultation, there are investigations that are done. The important ones are general medical tests for straightforward problems such as diabetes, vitamin B12 deficiency etc. And then, almost inevitably, the person will have a brain MRI scan to look at the volume of the brain, particularly in critical areas such as the hippocampus which is responsible for memory. We may do a thing called an EEG which can record the brain activity and be abnormal in dementia. The most helpful test, however, is an MRI scan, and then we would quite often involve psychologists who can do detailed cognitive assessment, which can be extremely valuable in the diagnosis.