On familiarity deficits in mild cognitive impairment: a reply to Migo and Westerberg

Abstract

In this brief response to Migo and Westerberg we explain why we think that their criticism of our previous research showing familiarity deficits in mild cognitive impairment patients (MCI) is not sound. More concretely, we have replicated the effect several times previously, and we justify statistically the fact that in the previous paper we had to combine two MCI samples to demonstrate a reliable familiarity deficit. We note that there are several studies showing conflicting results. However, although the basis for these discrepancies remains uncertain, a new report has replicated the presence of deficits in familiarity, and more importantly, demonstrated its correlation with structural imaging biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease.