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Cognitive disorders affect mental functioning and can be caused by aging, accidents, or learning difficulties. Symptoms include memory loss and difficulty concentrating. Treatment options include medication, therapy, and brain exercises. Some disorders, like dementia and Alzheimer’s, have no cure.
A cognitive disorder is any of a number of medical conditions that affect a person’s ability to carry out basic mental functioning. The disorders can and often feel very different depending on a variety of factors and most occur along such a spectrum that some affected people experience symptoms profoundly while others may only have occasional flare-ups or trouble spots. In general, however, there are three main types of ailments. First those related to natural aging and brain degeneration, then those caused by accidents or head injuries, and finally those specifically focused on learning and data retention, particularly during childhood. All are similar in how they affect how a person thinks and remembers stored information, but they can be very different when it comes to diagnosis, treatment, and possible cure or reversal.
Understand cognition in general
Cognition is generally defined as an individual’s ability to perform tasks that use brain functions such as memory and reasoning. Those with cognitive impairment typically have symptoms such as memory loss, difficulty thinking from start to finish, and an inability to concentrate for long periods of time.
It is important to note that people may experience periodic cognitive difficulties that are not significant enough to qualify as a true disorder. Most people have moments of forgetfulness and may find it difficult to concentrate for long periods of time or gasp for complex concepts. While this can be concerning, it is usually not something that can be diagnosed. Definite syndromes or disorders almost always require deficiencies or problems in multiple areas that persist over a defined period of time. Sometimes these can be tested and may have genetic markers, but not always. Medical and psychological experts typically have a set of diagnostic tools and checklists that they use before determining whether a patient has or is likely to have a certain disorder.
Age-related disorders
Some of the more common ailments develop with age. Dementia is perhaps the best known and often manifests as difficulty controlling or harnessing brain function in different areas. There are different types of dementia; some individuals will develop problems with long- or short-term memory, while others will have difficulty conceptualizing objects that are out of sight. It can become difficult to solve problems or make decisions, and speech can be impaired.
Alzheimer’s disease and related early-onset Alzheimer’s disease are similar in that they typically occur late in life, usually after age 60. These conditions are characterized by slow memory loss, and patients often believe they are living years or even decades in the past.
Problems related to accidents or trauma
Ailments can also be caused by trauma or external deficiencies. Korsakoff syndrome, for example, causes memory loss, hallucinations, and a tendency to tell stories. Caused by a lack of vitamin B1 in the system, it can cause permanent damage to specific areas of the brain. An individual who has been in an accident or suffered a blow to the head may also develop damage to a certain part of the brain, leading to cognitive difficulties.
Learning difficulties
Someone can also be born with a brain problem or cognitive difficulty that begins to show as they get older, often right around school age when children start focusing on specific tasks or answering more complex questions under pressure. Some learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, also fall into the category of cognitive disorders. Dyslexia is a problem that prevents the brain from correctly processing the appearance and order of letters, numbers or words. Different types of dyslexia manifest as difficulties in spelling, reading, understanding language, or any part of language skills.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is another common example and primarily affects an individual’s ability to focus their attention. An individual with this condition often has difficulty sitting still or performing tasks that require strict adherence to instructions. These individuals are often mistaken for being careless and flighty, and many may not be diagnosed until adulthood. Adding to the problem is that cognitive disorders rarely have a cookie-cutter diagnosis. Rather, a wide range of symptoms, abilities, and impairments may be evident.
Prevention and healing
Not all cognitive impairments can be cured, but there are usually a number of mitigation tools available. Medication is often a pathway, as are various therapies and training. Most of the time, efforts to correct a cognitive defect are most successful the earlier in life they are initiated. Many dyslexics who are diagnosed in early childhood are able to correct and redirect the brain’s processing so that they read and learn in a mostly normal way, although much of this depends on the circumstances.
Problems that start later in life tend to present more difficulties. There are no cures for things like dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, although a growing number of studies show that people who work to “exercise” the brain, often by performing simple computational tasks, are usually able to regain control. longer and can ward off these types of ailments if they have not yet occurred.
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