Which stage of Alzheimer’s Disease is characterized by anterograde amnesia for declarative memories?

The early stage of Alzheimer's Disease, often referred to as mild cognitive impairment, is characterized by subtle cognitive changes. One of the most prominent features is anterograde amnesia, where individuals have difficulty forming new declarative memories. Declarative memories refer to facts and events that can be consciously recalled. In Stage 1, while individuals may retain some ability to recall past memories, their capacity to learn new information and retain it becomes significantly impaired, which is the hallmark of anterograde amnesia.

As the disease progresses through the subsequent stages, the cognitive decline intensifies, affecting not only memory but also other cognitive functions such as reasoning, judgment, and attention. In later stages, individuals may experience more pervasive cognitive deficits that do not specifically highlight the anterograde memory issues as distinctly as in the early stage, where new memory formation is notably compromised.