With the recent publications of the NIA-Alzheimer’s Association workgroups on revising the criteria for diagnosis of dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease, it is clear we are entering an era increasingly focused on the role of biomarkers in disease detection, diagnosis, and predicting clinical outcome.  In this seminar we will review evidence of the relative value of genetic, imaging, and CSF markers in the early detection and diagnosis of AD.  We will present evidence that neuropsychological assessment provides a central and non-interchangeable role in diagnosing AD, and that cognitive measures are among the best predictors of the initial symptomatic stages of an evolving dementia.