The role of Arnold Pick for modern concepts of degenerative dementias: remembrance and appreciation

It will be shown that the contribution of Arnold Pick (1851-1924) goes far beyond the first description of the disorder associated with his name. His view that the process of dementia should not be conceptualised as a diffuse degradation of mental abilities but as a mosaic of circumscribed neuropsyc hological deficits is as modern now as it was then and is a prerequisite fo r the differential diagnosis of degenerative dementias during life.