[Mild cognitive impairment]

Abstract

It is essential to determine whether memory impairment is accompanied by impairment in other cognitive areas in patients presenting with the complaint of forgetfulness. Furthermore, it should be established whether this impairment is associated with normal aging or dementia. Several terms have been suggested to identify cognitive disorders without dementia. Benign senescent forgetfulness, age-associated memory impairment and aging-associated cognitive decline are considered to fall within the limits of normal aging. A recently proposed term, mild cognitive impairment, as opposed to the terms mentioned above, identifies a transitional state between normal aging and dementia. With the use of criteria proposed for mild cognitive impairment, this disorder converts to Alzheimer's disease at a rate of 10-15 % yearly. However, in longitudinal studies different neuropsychological tests and assessment scales were used for the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment, resulting in different conversion rates to Alzheimer's disease. Recently, it has been proposed to classify mild cognitive impairment according to memory and non-memory involvement as amnestic, multiple domain and non-memory single domain clinical subtypes. Furthermore, vascular, metabolic, traumatic and various etiologies other than degenerative etiology are mentioned. Besides the medications known to be effective for cognitive dysfunctions, memory enhancement training is suggested for treatment. A consensus on the diagnostic criteria for mild cognitive impairment, determining the subgroups and further studies on treatment are necessary.