Mild Cognitive Impairment

Mild Cognitive Impairment

Signs and Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment

Signs and Symptoms

Cognitive function includes abilities such as critical thinking, reading, speaking and writing. Patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) retain these important cognitive skills, necessary to manage their everyday activities, but have difficulty remembering recent events or recently acquired information. Long-term memories tend to remain in tact. In many cases, patients with MCI are quite aware of the short-term memory loss and compensate with heavy reliance on notes and calendars.

Until recently, doctors didn't associate significance to these complaints. In the past several years, researchers have found possible links between MCI and the future development of dementia. Some researchers believe that in some cases, mild cognitive impairment is a transitional condition leading to other diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated May 8, 2007