The term vascular dementia covers a series of conditions resulting from cerebrovascular, ischemic or hemorrhagic damage. The various types are differentiated by their etiopathogenic mechanism, presentation and clinical course. The most important are multi-infarct dementia, subcortical vascular ischemic and dementia caused by strategic infarction or hypoperfusion. Lewy body dementia is characterized by the presence of fluctuating neuropsychiatric symptoms, visual hallucinations and parkinsonism. With frontotemporal lobar degeneration, there are early behavioral, personality and language changes, with relative preservation of memory in the initial phases. Three variants have been differentiated: the behavioral variant, progressive nonfluent aphasia and semantic dementia. The primary tools for performing a proper diagnosis are a detailed case history, physical examination and neuropsychological studies. The various additional tests can provide diagnostic support in some cases.