Decline in Everyday Functioning in MCI and Dementia

Abstract

Performance of everyday activities requires the coordination of a variety of complex cognitive processes; thus, as cognition changes over time, so too does the ability to perform everyday activities. This chapter will review the extant literature on everyday functioning in healthy aging, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and dementia from a neuropsychological perspective. The chapter first briefly reviews the various terms used to denote everyday functioning and associated difficulties/impairment. It also discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the methodological approaches to everyday function assessment. Next, the chapter reviews reports of associations between overall level of cognitive function and the ability to perform everyday tasks. Studies mapping the relations between specific cognitive processes and everyday functioning also are reviewed. The authors include a discussion of neuropsychological models (e.g., resource theory, omission–commission model) that have been proposed to account for the observed relations between cognition and everyday function. Finally, the authors make suggestions for future research on everyday functioning in older adults.