pseudodementia

pseudodementia

 [soo″do-dĕ-men´shah] a disorder resembling dementia but not due to organic brain disease and is potentially reversible by treatment; one form is the depressive symptoms seen in some older adults.

pseu·do·de·men·ti·a

(sū'dō-dē-men'shē-ă), A condition resembling dementia but usually due to a depressive disorder rather than brain dysfunction.

pseudodementia

Neurology Dementia-like Sx due to psychologic impairment–eg, depression or histrionic episode, characterized by cognitive impairment of short duration, with preserved attention and ability to concentrate, and a variable performance in tests with similar levels of difficulty; it is often transient, common in the elderly and may be linked to medications–anticholinergics, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, butyrophenones, corticosteroids, digitalis, IMAOs, TCAs or due to depression–with physical and emotional deprivation, accompanied by apathy, akinesia and anxiety; pseudodementia also occurs in normal pressure hydrocephalus, Creutzfeldt-Jakob, Huntington's, Parkinson's, Pick's, Wilson's diseases, and endocrinopathy. Cf Cerebral pseudoatrophy, Dementia.

pseu·do·de·men·ti·a

(sū'dō-dĕ-men'shē-ă) A condition resembling dementia but usually due to a depressive disorder rather than brain dysfunction.

pseudodementia

Severe depression in an elderly person that mimics DEMENTIA. About 10% of those assumed to be demented are, in fact, suffering from a treatable depression that may respond well to antidepressant drugs.