mild cognitive impairment mild cognitive impairment mild cognitive impairment (mci) is a neurocognitive disorder which involves cognitive impairments beyond those expected based on an individual's age and education but which are not significant enough to interfere with instrumental activities of daily living. mci may occur as a transitional stage between normal aging and dementia, especially alzheimer's disease. it includes both memory and non-memory impairments. the cause of the disorder remains unclear, as well as both its prevention and treatment, with some 50 percent of people diagnosed with it going on to develop alzheimer's disease within five years. the diagnosis can also serve as an early indicator for other types of dementia, although mci may remain stable or even remit. not to be confused with minimal brain dysfunction. mild cognitive impairmentother namesincipient dementia, isolated memory impairmentspecialtyneurologysymptomscan include memory impairments (amnestic) or cognitive problems like impaired decision making, language, or visuospatial skills (non-amnestic)usual onsettypically appears in adults 65 or oldertypesamnestic, non-amnesticrisk factorsage, family history, cardiovascular diseasediagnostic methodbased on symptoms assessed by a clinical neuropsychologist through observations, neuroimaging, and blood tests mild cognitive impairment has been relisted as mild neurocognitive disorder in dsm-5, and in icd-11, the latter effective on 1 january 2022. classification mci can present with a variety of symptoms, but is divided generally into two types. amnestic mci (amci) is mild cognitive impairment with memory loss as the predominant symptom; amci is frequently seen as a prodromal stage of alzheimer's disease. studies suggest that these individuals tend to progress to probable alzheimer's disease at a rate of approximately 10% to 15% per year. it is possible that being diagnosed with cognitive decline may serve as an indicator of mci. nonamnestic mci (namci) is mild cognitive impairment in which impairments in domains other than memory (for example, language, visuospatial, executive) are more prominent. it may be further divided as nonamnestic single- or multiple-domain mci, and these individuals are believed to be more likely to convert to other dementias (for example, dementia with lewy bodies). the international classification of diseases classifies mci as a "mental and behavioural disorder." causes mild cognitive impairment (mci) may be caused due to alteration in the brain triggered during early stages of alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia. exact causes of mci are unknown. it is controversial whether mci even should be identified as a disorder. risk factors of both dementia and mci are considered to be the same: these are aging, genetic (heredity) cause of alzheimer's or other dementia, and cardiovascular disease. individuals with mci have increased oxidative damage in their nuclear and mitochondrial brain dna. diagnosis the diagnosis of mci requires considerable clinical judgement, and as such a comprehensive clinical assessment including clinical observation, neuroimaging, blood tests and neuropsychological testing are best in order to rule out an alternate diagnosis. mci is diagnosed when there is: evidence of memory impairment preservation of general cognitive and functional abilities absence of diagnosed dementia neuropathology although amnestic mci patients may not meet criteria for alzheimer's disease, patients may be in a transitional stage of evolving alzheimer's disease. magnetic resonance imaging can observe deterioration, including progressive loss of gray matter in the brain, from mild cognitive impairment to full-blown alzheimer disease. a technique known as pib pet imaging is used to show the sites and shapes of beta amyloid deposits in living subjects using a 11c tracer that binds selectively to such deposits. treatment