Mild Cognitive Impairment

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI, also known as incipient dementia, or isolated memory impairment) is a brain-function syndrome involving the onset and evolution of cognitive impairments beyond those expected based on the age and education of the individual, but which are not significant enough to interfere with their daily activities. It is often found to be a transitional stage between normal aging and dementia. Although MCI can present with a variety of symptoms, when memory loss is the predominant symptom it is termed "amnestic MCI" and is frequently seen as a prodromal stage of Alzheimer's disease. Studies suggest that these individuals tend to progress to probable Alzheimer’s disease at a rate of approximately 10% to 15% per year.

Additionally, when individuals have impairments in domains other than memory it is classified as non-amnestic single- or multiple-domain MCI and these individuals are believed to be more likely to convert to other dementias (e.g. dementia with Lewy bodies). However, some instances of MCI may simply remain stable over time or even remit. Causation of the syndrome in and of itself remains unknown, as therefore do prevention and treatment.

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