[Which memory clinic and for whom?]

The burgeoning of interest in Alzheimer's disease since the early 1980s has resulted in the development of memory clinics to improve the diagnosis and management of patients with the disease. Some memory clinics, however, have a broader interest in memory disorders, especially in those associated with normal ageing. Some questions should be considered with regard to the activity of memory clinics: (1) should the patients be systematically subjected to a multidisciplinary team and standardized examinations or to a single specialist in charge of adjusting examinations and management to particular situations? (2) Who should be responsible for the financial cost of memory clinics: the patients, the National Health Service or research grants? Evaluation procedures should be set up as soon as possible to answer these questions.