Factors predicting conversion of mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer’s identified

March, 2010

New analysis reveals the most important factors for predicting whether amnestic-MCI would develop into Alzheimer’s within 2 years were hyperglycemia, female gender and having the Alzheimer's gene.

An analysis technique using artificial neural networks has revealed that the most important factors for predicting whether amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI-A) would develop into Alzheimer’s within 2 years were hyperglycemia, female gender and having the APOE4 gene (in that order). These were followed by the scores on attentional and short memory tests.

Reference: 

Tabaton, M. et al. 2010. Artificial Neural Networks Identify the Predictive Values of Risk Factors on the Conversion of Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 19 (3), 1035-1040.