Dementia, it's all in the mind

By John Elder
Updated April 20 2014 - 4:13pm, first published 3:00am
The overworked, overcrowded middle-aged mind can be forgiven a few memory lapses.
The overworked, overcrowded middle-aged mind can be forgiven a few memory lapses.

Is it possible, from a scientific point of view, that former NSW premier Barry O'Farrell had a ''senior moment'' when he forgot about the $3000 bottle of wine he received as a gift? Kind of. At 56, O'Farrell is deep into middle-age, and - according to a 2012 study published in the British Medical Journal - cognitive decline begins at about 45, not at 60 as it was once thought.