Memory loss is usually the first thing people think of when it comes to dementia.
The condition, which affects 7 million Americans, is primarily defined by memory issues, forgetfulness and gradual changes in personality.
That’s because in Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, amyloid proteins accumulate in the brain and attack neurons in the brain’s memory center, the hippocampus.
But in the early stages of dementia, many other signs are more subtle, and lapses in memory can take months or years to become noticeable.
Dementia is also an umbrella term referring to more than 100 subtypes, so experts warn the signs can vary, especially in the earlier stages.
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Along with trouble remembering words or their friends’ names, patients with dementia may also become more withdrawn.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.
