Diagnosis and Management of Mild Cognitive Impairment

Dear Colleagues,

The term mild cognitive impairment (MCI) was introduced by Petersen et al. in 1997 to define a neuropsychological and clinical condition that is characterized by the appearance of cognitive disturbances, reported by the patients or a reliable informant, in the absence of significant repercussions on daily life and without overt dementia. Accordingly, MCI formally designates an intermediate state, a continuum, between normal ageing and the diagnosis of dementia. There are two kinds of MCI, amnesic and non-amnesic MCI, both of which may present deficits in a single or multiple cognitive domains, such as memory, language, visuospatial, processing speed or executive function (EF). MCI is, therefore, a clinical condition formally linked to age; its prevalence has been estimated at 6.7% for the age range 60–64, 8.4% for 65–69, 10.1% for 70–74, 14.8% for 75–79 and 25.2% for 80–84.

From this perspective, new methods of patient management could be devised with a consequent improvement in the patient’s quality of life. For this purpose, the applicability/efficacy of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) and other non-pharmacological therapy will be investigated. Research on family interventions will also be promoted, since the well-being of the whole family is related to the patients’ quality of life.

Another important aim of this issue is to study this condition using neurological and neuropsychological tools, as well as neuroimaging and neurostimulation.

We are interested in the submission of original articles. We will mainly employ neuropsychological approaches and other diagnostics tests used in clinical practice and validated in the normal population. The confrontation with neuroimaging or the application of neurostimulation are also an important aim of this research. Likewise, exemplary clinical cases (case report), brief reports and systematic reviews can make an important contribution, as well as the description of therapeutic experiences in small groups of patients. Narrative reviews are also accepted if there is a precise and clinically relevant topic of interest.

Dr. Leonardo Sacco
Guest Editor

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• mild cognitive impairment
• aging
• dementia
• disease progression
• cognitive functioning
• behavior
• functional impairment
• communication and interaction skills
• depression
• patient management
• therapy
• non-pharmacological interventions
• family interventions
• neuropsychological testing
• TMS
• functional MRI
• PET