Cognitive Exercising for Patients With MCI Using Serious Games: Design of a Pilot Study

Individuals With Mild Cognitive Impairment

The concept of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) was derived from milder cases of dementia and not Alzheimer’s disease (AD). MCI encompasses patients with and without memory impairment. Of those with memory loss, some have memory impairment as their only deficit [amnestic MCI single domain (aMCIs)], whereas others have impairments of memory loss plus changes in other cognitive domains [amnestic MCI multiple domain (aMCImd) (Petersen et al., 1999). Multiple-domain MCI is more common than pure amnestic type MCI and is characterized by slight impairment in more than one cognitive domain but of insufficient severity to constitute dementia (Gauthier et al., 2006). Of those without any memory loss, some patients have deficits in one domain only, such as executive functions, apraxia or aphasia. Or they may have deficits in several domains, excluding memory (Petersen, 2004). These prodromal states may progress to non-AD dementias, such as vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, Lewy body dementia, primary progressive aphasia, or corticobasal degeneration (Winblad et al., 2004).