Question: My Mom is in her seventies. She has always been very active. All of a sudden, after she fell in a grocery store for no apparent reason. She hasn’t been the same. She didn’t break anything. She had an MRI and it was normal. They didn’t find anything wrong. But she is really spacey now and sometimes, she doesn’t even make so much sense.
Anne Fenton, MD: Your description of the change you have seen in your mother suggests that there may be some additional problem that may not be picked up by an MRI. Often, people tell me about a change in their parent’s status “ever since” some accident or a fall. Because we think in terms of cause and effect, it may seem as though the change is due to the fall. However, many times, it turns out that the fall is due to the change. Older people, for example, often experience “mini strokes” which they may not realize or remember. Such events are caused by tiny events in the brain that can cause temporary or permanent damage, and related personality or behavioral changes. The geriatric specialist is best suited to examine your mother. Sometimes, certain neurological and neuropsychological tests can pick up subtle mental changes that MRI’s and CT scans cannot.