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Dementia in ancient Greece and Rome
Caleb E Finch, Stanley M Burstein. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 2025-06-23
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
We respond to the commentary by Ballenger et al. While appreciating "our provocative article", they called for "a more rigorous historical approach…". In fact, we documented from known texts how ancient physicians recognized memory loss in the elderly, Solon to Galen, who gave stereotypical descriptions of the negative aspects of old age in historical sequence. Texts from the Roman era with references to elderly memory loss did not have any earlier Greek counterpart, suggesting historically novel environmental and lifestyle factors in dementia that are associated with the modern dementia epidemic. Our initial inquiry, while historically rigorous, warrants further discussion.
Key findings
- Texts from the Roman era with references to elderly memory loss did not have any earlier Greek counterpart, suggesting historically novel environmental and lifestyle factors in dementia that are associated with the modern dementia epidemic.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 43/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 24 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 43 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40551584) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 24 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 24 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 43 out of 100. |
| Total | 43 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Finch, C. E., & Burstein, S. M. (2025). Dementia in ancient Greece and Rome. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. https://doi.org/10.1177/13872877251351856
Vancouver
Finch CE, Burstein SM. Dementia in ancient Greece and Rome. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. 2025. doi:10.1177/13872877251351856. PMID: 40551584.
BibTeX
@article{finch2025-40551584,
author = {Finch, Caleb E and Burstein, Stanley M},
title = {{Dementia in ancient Greece and Rome}},
journal = {Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1177/13872877251351856},
pmid = {40551584},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/13872877251351856}
}
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