Background: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is the most widely used concept in classifying cognitive impairment in the elderly who do not fulfil the criteria for dementia. MCI is considered to confer an increased risk of progressing to dementia and most often Alzheimer's disease (AD). Various approaches such as imaging of the brain have been applied to predict the conversion of MCI to dementia. A number of volumetric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have detected atrophy of the medial temporal lobe in subjects with MCI, but for the other cerebral regions the results have been inconsistent.
Objective: To study the pattern of brain atrophy in MCI.
Methods: Thirty two controls and 51 individuals with MCI deriving from population based cohorts were studied by MRI using voxel based morphometry. The threshold of t maps was set at p < 0.001.
Results: Individuals with MCI had significant unilateral atrophy in the medial temporal lobe on the right side. Less extensive atrophy was found elsewhere-for example, in the temporal lobe, left superior parietal lobule, left anterior cingulate gyrus, and bilaterally in the thalami.
Conclusions: The MRI findings in MCI resemble those seen in early AD.