Skip to content

Early-Stage Dementia Characteristics

An interactive SVG wheel diagram that shows what early-stage dementia looks like across five different domains. Each "petal" of the wheel reveals what is typically impaired and what usually remains preserved, so families can focus on a person's retained capabilities rather than only on losses.

Preview

Run MicroSim in Fullscreen

Learning Objective

Understand the characteristics of early-stage dementia across cognitive, functional, personality, behavioral, and mood domains (Bloom Level 2 - Understand).

  • Bloom Level: Understand (L2)
  • Bloom Verb: Understand, explain, describe
  • Library: Custom HTML/CSS/JavaScript with SVG

The Five Domains

The wheel shows five domains of early-stage dementia. In each case, some abilities are mildly impaired while many others remain intact.

  1. Cognitive Abilities - Recent memory and new learning are affected, while remote memory, basic reasoning, and familiar knowledge are preserved.
  2. Daily Function - Complex tasks like finances and cooking become difficult, but self-care and basic routines remain largely independent.
  3. Personality - The person may become more anxious or rigid, yet their core personality and values stay recognizable.
  4. Behavior - Repetition and withdrawal from new situations increase, but cooperation and social engagement are usually preserved.
  5. Mood - Depression, anxiety, and frustration may emerge in response to awareness of decline, while the full range of positive emotions still remains accessible.

How To Use

  • Explore mode - Click any section of the wheel to see impairment and preserved abilities for that domain, along with an impairment meter. Toggle "Show Examples" to see concrete scenarios.
  • Quiz mode - Read four real-world scenarios and match each one to the correct domain. A celebration plays when all four are answered correctly.

Key Message

In early-stage dementia, much remains intact. Focus on what the person can do, not just what they can't.