The MARS Memory Check-up is a one-on-one interview and assessment session with a trained clinician and/or technician. The assessments are like little thought and memory games. Do not worry about doing poorly, no one gets all the answers correct. In fact, the assessments are designed so that they keep getting harder until you get some answers wrong. It is similar to pole vaulting in track and field. The pole keeps getting higher until the last person knocks it down.

There are two excellent reasons to get a MARS Memory Check-up when you are feeling fine:

First, getting a MARS Memory Check-up when you are functioning normally provides you with a measure of your normal performance. We all have strengths and weaknesses, and this initial measurement will document your strengths and weaknesses. This initial measurement is called a baseline, and will be used as the comparison for your performance on future MARS Memory Check-ups. Having a baseline increases the sensitivity of the test and thus allows us to detect abnormal changes much earlier than is possible without the baseline.

Second, early stage memory loss is often invisible to the client and their family. Thus, even though we “feel fine,” we should get assessed to screen for early stage memory disease.

A MARS Memory Check-up takes between 1 and 2 hours, depending on the particular assessments given. Also, the check-up includes a 20 minute follow-up meeting with the clinician to discuss the results.

We recommend that people consider annual MARS Memory Check-ups as soon as they can after age 55. Younger baselines ensure a good, clean measure of normal functioning that we can use later for comparison. As we age, the risk of memory disease rises rapidly. Indeed, at 60 the risk is 1 in 100, at 85 the risk is about 1 in 2. So, as we age it becomes increasingly important to get a MARS Memory Check-up to help maintain our brain functioning.

You are Never too old to start getting annual MARS Memory Check-ups. Indeed, like a physical, the older you are, the more important it is to get a memory check-up. Memory disease is not a normal part of aging. It should be detected and treated.

We work hard to keep the price of a MARS Memory Check-up affordable. The price of a memory check-up depends on the extent of the assessment, which depends on your risk factors. However, most memory check-up cost about the same as two visits to your dentist. We like to think that keeping your brain healthy is at least as important as keeping your teeth clean.