Frontal-executive dysfunction affects dementia conversion in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment

Participants

We consecutively collected data of 498 aMCI patients from the Memory Clinic at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea. The patients underwent detailed neuropsychological testing and brain magnetic resosnance imaging (MRI) from July 2007 to December 2012 and were followed-up for more than 12 months. All patients were in accordance with Petersen’s clinical criteria for MCI²⁰ with the following modifications: (1) subjective memory problems reported by the patient or caregiver, (2) normal activities of daily living (ADL) as judged by an interview with a clinician and Seoul–Instrumental ADL test (with a score < 8)²¹, (3) objective memory decline below the 16^th percentile or the norm determined by neuropsychological tests, and (4) no dementia. The exclusion criteria included a history of traumatic brain injury, cortical stroke, seizure, brain surgery, and existing…