Introduction:

There is a wide heterogeneity of neuropsychological symptoms reported in pathological ageing. Current research has focused on patients with Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia. However, still no detailed knowledge of the cognitive-linguistic profiles in patients whit Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and other forms of dementia.

Objective:

To characterize cognitive and linguistic profiles in older people with MCI, vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, and Parkinson’s disease.

Methods:

The present study followed the PRISMA guidelines and included studies from the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases, published between 2000 and 2020.

Results:

49 articles were included in this literature review for critical analysis. Older people with MCI, vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, and Parkinson's disease shows a significant decline in the following cognitive domains: memory, executive function, attention, and visuospatial/visuoconstructive skills. However, linguistic symptoms are also reported, especially the deficit in verbal fluency (semantic and phonological) and syntactic-grammatical and discursive skills.

Conclusion:

This literature review characterized cognitive-linguistic profiles in older people with MCI, vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, and Parkinson’s disease. These profiles could be helpful in clinical practice to improve early neuropsychological assessment processes and even determine differential diagnoses between these clinical conditions.