My wife had a 3 hour neuropsych exam in November 2022 which concluded that she probably early stage (not early onset) Alzheimer’s dementia. Her neurologist put her on 5mg Aricept. We saw the neurologist 6 months later; the Aricept was helping so he increased the dose to 10 mg. I asked him then whether we should repeat the exam on her one year anniversary. He said that it was not necessary unless she was exhibiting a significant decline.

In early 2020, a few months after his MCI diagnosis, my husband was recommended by his neurologist to have the extended neuro psychological testing done at Yale and against my husband's wishes, I scheduled the test. A short way into the testing, he cut it short, saying it was "insulting" and he thought it was mainly be done for neurology research and not to help him specifically. Well! He now does the short tests in his neurologist's and geriatrician's offices and so far, 4 years post MCI diagnosis, he's doing pretty well. Uses the daily rivastigmine (Exelon) patch and takes memantine and Lexapro. Once we got it into our heads that there's no cure for dementia, and the testing should be done to do what's appropriate for the stage he's in, we have declined any long testing sessions which, like for your wife, only serve to increase anxiety and thereby diminish their quality of life.