Neuroimaging Findings in Mild Cognitive Impairment

  • Flavio Nobili
  • Dario Arnaldi
  • Luca Roccatagliata
  • Andrea Chincarini
  • Jennifer Accardo
  • Agnese Picco
  • Michela Ferrara
  • Ambra Buschiazzo
  • Silvia Morbelli
Chapter
First Online:

Abstract

The clinical construct of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) identifies a syndrome of cognitive deficit without dementia, whose fate is unpredictable without an effort to establish the underlying cause. MCI is the natural “reservoir” of subsequent dementing illnesses, but it can be provoked by a variety of psychiatric and systemic diseases as well as by drugs, alcohol, and substance abuse. In this context, morphological and, especially, functional neuroimaging by means of multitracer SPECT and PET provide clue information on the underlying pathological process. Both MRI and SPECT/PET have been included as biomarkers in the revised criteria for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease before dementia; similarly, dopamine transporter SPECT and FDG-PET are supportive features for the diagnosis of cognitive deficit due to diffuse Lewy-body disease or to frontotemporal lobe degeneration, respectively. The advent of amyloid imaging with PET radiopharmaceuticals has paved the way to the noninvasive brain biopsy for beta amyloid and can detect amyloidosis in otherwise healthy individuals. In the advanced memory clinics, appropriate use of neuroimaging is nowadays the cornerstone of correct diagnosis of cognitive disorders. New developments include high-field MRI equipment, new fluorinated PET radiopharmaceuticals for amyloid detection and receptor studies, and the upcoming tool of MRI-PET.

Keywords

Mild Cognitive Impairment Fractional Anisotropy Diffusion Tensor Image Default Mode Network Mild Cognitive Impairment Patient 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  • Flavio Nobili
    • 1
  • Dario Arnaldi
    • 1
  • Luca Roccatagliata
    • 1
  • Andrea Chincarini
    • 2
  • Jennifer Accardo
    • 1
  • Agnese Picco
    • 1
  • Michela Ferrara
    • 1
  • Ambra Buschiazzo
    • 3
  • Silvia Morbelli
    • 3
  1. 1.Department of Neuroscience, Ophthalmology and GeneticsUniversity of GenoaGenoaItaly
  2. 2.Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di GenovaGenovaItaly
  3. 3.Department of Nuclear Medicine/Department of Internal Medicine, San Martino HospitalUniversity of GenoaGenoaItaly

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