Personality Change May Be Early Sign of Dementia, Experts Say

“Has the person become agitated, aggressive, irritable, or temperamental?” the questionnaire asks. “Does she/he have unrealistic beliefs about her/his power, wealth or skills?”

Or maybe another kind of personality change has happened: “Does she/he no longer care about anything?”

If the answer is yes to one of these questions — or others on a new checklist — and the personality or behavior change has lasted for months, it could indicate a very early stage of dementia, according to a group of neuropsychiatrists and Alzheimer’s experts.

“There’s the potential benefit of early diagnosis, identifying people more likely to decline,” said IHPI member Kenneth Langa, a professor of internal medicine. But “the flip side is overdiagnosis, labeling someone and getting people in the clinical cascade, where you start doing the test and people start doing more brain imaging and being at the doctor’s more and getting more concerned.”