As the essays in this volume show, conceptualizing dementia has always been a complex process. With contributions from noted professionals in psychiatry, neurology, molecular biology, sociology, history, ethics, and health policy, Concepts of Alzheimer Disease looks at the ways in which Alzheimer disease has been defined in various historical and cultural contexts.

The book covers every major development in the field, from the first case described by Alois Alzheimer in 1907 through groundbreaking work on the genetics of the disease. Essays examine not only the prominent role that biomedical and clinical researchers have played in defining Alzheimer disease, but also the ways in which the perspectives of patients, their caregivers, and the broader public have shaped concepts.

Peter J. Whitehouse, M.D., Ph.D., is a professor of neurology, psychiatry, neuroscience, psychology, nursing, organizational behavior, and biomedical ethics at the Fairhill Center for Aging, Case Western Reserve University, and a founding director of the Alzheimer Center at the University Hospitals of Cleveland. Konrad Maurer, M.D., Ph.D., is a professor in and head of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, and director of the Clinic for Psychiatry, at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University. Jesse F. Ballenger, Ph.D., is a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute of the History of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University.