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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staff
There's no single cause of MCI, just as there's no single outcome for the disorder. Symptoms of MCI may remain stable for years, progress to Alzheimer's disease or another type of dementia, or improve over time.
Current evidence indicates that MCI often, but not always, causes a lesser degree of the same types of brain changes seen in Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia. Some of these changes have been identified in autopsy studies of people with MCI. These changes include:
- Plaques and tangles, which are microscopic protein clumps characteristic of Alzheimer's disease
- Lewy bodies, which are microscopic clumps of another protein associated with Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies and some cases of Alzheimer's disease
- Small strokes or reduced blood flow through brain blood vessels
Brain-imaging studies show that the following changes are often associated with MCI:
- Shrinkage of the hippocampus, a brain region important for memory
- Plaques (abnormal clumps of beta-amyloid protein) throughout the brain
- Enlargement of the brain's fluid-filled spaces (ventricles)
- Reduced use of glucose, the sugar that's the primary source of energy for cells, in key brain regions
- Preventing Alzheimer's disease and cognitive decline. National Institutes of Health State-of-the-Science Conference Statement. April 26-28, 2010. http://consensus.nih.gov/2010/docs/alz/ALZ_Final_Statement.pdf. Accessed June 25, 2010.
- Petersen RC, et al. Mild cognitive impairment ten years later. Archives of Neurology. 2009;66:1447.
- Roberts RO, et al. Subjective complaints in mild cognitive impairment make a difference. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 2010;21:242.
- Wright JD. Mild cognitive impairment. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed June 28, 2010.
- Winblad B, et al. Mild cognitive impairment — Beyond controversies, towards a consensus. Journal of Internal Medicine. 2004;256:240.
- Petersen RC. Mild cognitive impairment as a diagnostic entity. Journal of Internal Medicine. 2004;256:183.
- Essentials of a diagnostic workup. Alzheimer's Association. http://www.alz.org/professionals_and_researchers_14902.asp. Accessed June 30, 2010.
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