When people hear the word dementia, memory loss is often the first symptom that comes to mind.
This condition, impacting 7 million individuals in the United States, is largely characterized by forgetfulness, memory challenges, and shifts in personality.
The root of these issues, particularly in Alzheimer’s disease—the most prevalent form of dementia—lies in the buildup of amyloid proteins. These proteins target the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory, causing neuronal damage.
In the initial phases of dementia, however, the signs might be much more understated, with noticeable memory lapses taking months or even years to appear.
Dementia encompasses over 100 different subtypes, which means that the symptoms can vary widely, especially in the early stages, prompting experts to caution against expecting uniform signs.
Other lesser known forms of dementia include frontotemporal dementia (FTD), vascular dementia and Lewy body dementia, all of which cause non-memory symptoms.
And the number of Americans affected by dementia is expected to nearly double by 2050, leaving millions anxious to catch it early.
Below are three of the early signs of dementia beyond memory loss.
Risky decisions are common in frontotemporal dementia (FTD), which actor Bruce Willis was diagnosed with in 2023. He is pictured above with wife Emma Heming in 2019
Risky decisions
Making impulsive, irrational decisions could be an early sign of brain damage caused by dementia.
Along with the hippocampus, dementia damages the frontal lobe and orbitofrontal cortex, regions of the brain responsible for judgment, inhibition, planning and evaluating risks.
That damage can result in money mismanagement habits such as impulse shopping or signing up for unneeded credit cards.
One 2020 study from Johns Hopkins University of more than 81,000 older adults on Medicare found those with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia worsened their credit scores up to six years before receiving formal diagnoses.
Researchers with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York also recently found that in the five years before a dementia diagnosis, patients were more likely to miss regular bill payments.
Risky decision-making is particularly common in frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Accounting for about one in 20 dementia cases, or 50,000 to 60,000 Americans, FTD is caused by nerve cell loss in the frontal and temporal lobes, affecting personality and decision-making before memory.
Social withdrawal
Along with trouble remembering words or their friends’ names, patients with dementia may also become more withdrawn.
The disease causes atrophy, or wasting, of the brain’s Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas, found in the frontal and posterior temporal lobes, respectively.
Damage to these areas affects how speech is articulated and language is comprehended, which can make it difficult for patients to communicate with loved ones.
The Alzheimer’s Association also notes forgetting names, faces or memories can lead to embarrassment and patients avoiding social interactions out of fear of being judged.
Social withdrawal is most common in Alzheimer’s and FTD, though it can also occur in vascular and Lewy body dementia.
A 2025 analysis of more than 600,000 participants also found that loneliness increased the risk of developing Alzheimer’s by 14 percent, vascular dementia by 17 percent and cognitive impairment by 12 percent.
Experts believe this is because loneliness induces harmful inflammation in the brain due to the lack of stimulation.
Vision problems
Visual disturbances and impairments are commonly reported in Lewy body dementia and posterior cortical atrophy (stock image)
Along with parts of the brain responsible for memory and personality, dementia can target areas associated with vision.
This may be due to atrophy and cell damage of the occipital and parietal lobes, which process vision, interpret visual information from the eyes and judge spatial awareness.
The brain also gradually loses its ability to judge depth perception and long distances in dementia.
In Lewy body dementia in particular, damage to the visual cortex can cause the brain to create images that are not there, resulting in hallucinations.
People with posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), a type of dementia characterized by the degeneration of the brain’s gray matter, often report visual impairments before other symptoms such as memory loss.
A 2023 review found visual impairments were also associated with a 60 percent higher risk of developing dementia or other cognitive impairments. The researchers suggested additional research may show if wearing glasses or having vision surgery could prevent dementia later in life.
