Affective Disturbance in Mild Cognitive Impairment

Abstract

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is an identifiable, prodromal stage of cognitive impairment and has been further defined into subtypes: amnestic, language, executive functioning, and multi domain/mixed MCI (Jak et al. 2009 ). The purpose of this study is to (1) examine the differences in depression, anxiety, and apathy between MCI subtypes; and (2) assess the relationship between the neurocognitive domains (executive functioning, language, and memory and affective symptoms. We hypothesize that apathy will be greater in dysexecutive/mixed MCI (dys/mixed MCI) and be more highly correlated to neurocognitive deficits compared to depression or anxiety. This is a retrospective study of 113 patients from the New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging Memory Assessment Program ( MAP). Affective symptoms of depression, anxiety, and apathy were assessed by caregiver report using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). Anxiety was found to be higher in the aMCI group compared to the other two groups but did not show a significant relationship with memory on cognitive testing. Only apathy was related to deficits in the executive function cognitive domain and in processing speed. The findings suggest that evidence of these affective disturbances in a clinical setting warrants assessment of cognitive function

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