MCI can develop for multiple reasons, and individuals living with MCI may go on to develop dementia; others will not. For neurodegenerative diseases, MCI can be an early stage of the disease continuum including for Alzheimer’s, if the hallmark changes in the brain are present.
The causes of MCI are not yet completely understood. Experts believe that many cases—but not all—result from brain changes occurring in the very early stages of Alzheimer’s or other neurodegenerative diseases that cause dementia.
In some individuals, MCI reverts to normal cognition or remains stable. In other cases, such as when a medication causes cognitive impairment, MCI is mistakenly diagnosed. It is important that people experiencing cognitive changes seek help as soon as possible for diagnosis and possible treatment.
The risk factors most strongly linked to MCI when the underlying cause is neurodegenerative disease and not another cause are advancing age, family history of Alzheimer’s or another dementia, and conditions that raise risk for cardiovascular disease.
Symptoms
Experts classify mild cognitive impairment based on the thinking skills affected:
- Amnestic MCI: MCI that primarily affects memory. A person may start to forget important information that he or she would previously have recalled easily, such as appointments, conversations, or recent events.
- Nonamnestic MCI: MCI that affects thinking skills other than memory, including the ability to make sound decisions, judge the time or sequence of steps needed to complete a complex task, or visual perception.
Artificial intelligence (AI) analysis of voice recordings could offer a quick, inexpensive way to screen home care patients for mild cognitive impairment and early dementia (MCI-ED), new research from Columbia Nursing shows.
Postdoctoral researcher Maryam Zolnoori, PhD, has received National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding to develop a speech processing algorithm, MCI-ED Screen, to identify the earliest signs of mild cognitive impairment and early dementia in home care patients. MCI-ED builds upon AD Screen, a speech processing algorithm Zolnoori developed to detect Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRDs) by analyzing voice recordings.
The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that nearly one in five people 60 and older in the U.S. are living with MCI, and that 10 to 15 percent of people with MCI will develop ADRD within the year. Identifying people with MCI-ED, who often don’t recognize their cognitive function loss, is important because interventions are available to help slow dementia progression and keep patients safe, Zolnoori explains.
While the NIH, the National Science Foundation, and others have prioritized the development of MCI-ED screening tools, available methods—such as brain scans or cerebrospinal fluid analysis–are too costly, invasive, or resource-intensive for practical use. Current cognitive assessment tools (e.g., The Mini‐Mental State Examination) require clinicians to receive additional training to use in clinical settings, and can take 10 to 20 minutes to complete, Zolnoori notes.
MCI-ED Screen would avoid these concerns by using recordings made in the normal course of care. “We don’t interrupt you; we don’t ask you to use any specific tool that takes your time,” Zolnoori says. “We just record your conversation and then we will tell you whether this patient has cognitive impairment or not.”
MCI-ED Screen and AD Screen both work by rapidly recognizing multiple parameters in a patient’s speech, voice, and language that act as biomarkers for cognitive function. These parameters can include differences in tone of voice (the voices of people with MCI have less “brightness,” or clarity, because they are losing control of their vocal cords), explains Zolnoori, or features like long silent pauses in conversation that can indicate memory loss.
“AD Screen has already demonstrated excellent performance on a publicly available dataset using a picture description task,” she adds.
Sources: https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/what-is-dementia/related_conditions/mild-cognitive-impairment; https://www.nursing.columbia.edu/news/mci-screening-ai-assist
Can diet play a role when it comes dementia risk?
A recent study found you may be increasing your risk of cognitive decline if more than 20 percent of your daily calories come from ultra-processed foods.
“These foods have been processed many times and often contain a lot of added ingredients and sugar—foods like soda, chips, fast food and frozen dinners,” explained Charles Bernick, MD, a neurologist at Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. “Diets heavily weighted toward these types of foods seem to be associated with a higher risk of dementia.”
Dr. Bernick, who did not take part in the study, said the most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease.
And while age and genetics are the biggest risk factors for Alzheimer’s, Dr. Bernick stresses diet is something you have control over.
Eating plenty of vegetables, fruits and whole grains can be beneficial for brain health.
Dr. Bernick said people who follow the Mediterranean Diet generally have a lower risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
However, focusing on a good diet is just one of the healthy lifestyle choices you can make.
“Exercise, proper sleep, engagement as far as staying mentally active – I think having a combination of these healthy lifestyle factors is going to have the most impact rather than each one separately,” Dr. Bernick said.
He adds the best time to incorporate these healthy habits is today.
Source: https://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/
