Cognitive changes in mild cognitive impairment patients with impaired visual recognition memory

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Neuropsychology
• Geriatric Medicine

Background:

• Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a transitional stage between normal aging and dementia.
• Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is crucial for timely intervention.
• Visual recognition memory deficits may indicate preclinical AD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if the DMS48 visual recognition memory task aids in the early diagnosis of AD in amnestic MCI (aMCI) patients.
• To compare longitudinal cognitive changes in aMCI patients who pass versus fail the DMS48 task.

Main Methods:

• A 18-month follow-up study involving 33 aMCI patients and 26 controls.
• Neuropsychological assessments at baseline and follow-up.
• Patients categorized into DMS48+ (pass) and DMS48- (fail) subgroups; standardized response mean (SRM) calculated for longitudinal changes.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in SRM were observed across DMS48+, DMS48-, and control groups.
• The DMS48- subgroup showed a consistent decline across most neuropsychological tasks compared to the DMS48+ subgroup.
• Cognitive profiles at baseline, apart from memory, did not differ between patient subgroups.

Conclusions:

• The DMS48 task is valuable for anticipating cognitive decline in aMCI.
• The cognitive profile of DMS48- patients at follow-up aligns with typical AD patterns.
• Visual recognition memory assessment can contribute to early AD detection in aMCI.