Aging and dementia may reduce sensory abilities as has been shown, among others, for smell in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. Since taste has received comparably little attention, we assessed 51 patients, 25 women and 26 men, mean age 72 years, who were presented to a memory clinic, using the 'sniffin' sticks', whole mouth and taste strips tests. While smoking, alcohol consumption and drug intake, exerted only a minor influence on the results, sex, age and dementia were of major importance. Patients with Parkinson's syndromes displayed a somewhat greater reduction of taste than other dementias. Although the differences were not marked or consistent enough to play an important role in the diagnosis of individual patients, this study confirms a mild reduction of gustatory function in some dementias that exceeds age-related decline.