Cognitive Decline in Mild Cognitive Impairment With Lewy Bodies or Alzheimer Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study

We explored whether the mild cognitive impairment (MCI) stages of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Alzheimer disease (AD) differ in their cognitive profiles, and longitudinal progression.

A prospective, longitudinal design was utilized with annual follow-up (Max 5 years, Mean 1.9, standard deviation 1.1) after diagnosis. Participants underwent repeated cognitive testing, and review of their clinical diagnosis and symptoms, including evaluation of core features of DLB.

This was an observational study of independently living individuals, recruited from local healthcare trusts in North East England, UK.

An MCI cohort (n = 76) aged ≥60 years was utilized, differentially diagnosed with MCI due to AD (MCI-AD), or possible/probable MCI with Lewy bodies (MCI-LB).

A comprehensive clinical and neuropsychological testing battery was administered, including ACE-R, trailmaking tests, FAS verbal fluency, and computerized battery of attention and perception tasks.

Probable MCI-LB presented with less impaired recognition memory than MCI-AD, greater initial impairments in verbal fluency and perception of line orientation, and thereafter demonstrated an expedited decline in visuo-constructional functions in the ACE-R compared to MCI-AD. No clear diagnostic group differences were found in deterioration speeds for global cognition, language, overall memory, attention or other executive functions.

These findings provide further evidence for differences in severity and decline of visuospatial dysfunctions in DLB compared with AD; further exploration is required to clarify when and how differences in attention, executive, and memory functions emerge, as well as speed of decline to dementia.