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Mild cognitive impairment is related to Alzheimer disease pathology and cerebral infarctions
Bennett DA, Schneider JA, Bienias JL, Evans DA, Wilson RS.. Neurology, 2005-03-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Plain-language summary
Objectives To examine the extent to which persons with mild cognitive impairment have intermediate levels of Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology, cerebral infarcts, and Lewy body disease. Methods A total of 180 Catholic clergy participating in the Religious Orders Study underwent annual detailed evaluation and brain autopsy. Blocks of midfrontal, superior temporal, medial temporal lobe, inferior parietal, entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, and substantia nigra were paraffin embedded, and sectioned at 6 mum. Cortical neuritic plaques, diffuse plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles were visualized with Bielschowsky silver stain, and counted and summarized to yield a Braak stage, Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) diagnosis, National Institute on Aging (NIA)-Reagan diagnosis, and composite measure of AD pathology. The authors recorded the number and location of all gross chronic cerebral infarctions. Lewy bodies were identified with antibodies to alpha-synuclein. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the relation of AD pathology and cerebral infarctions to clinical diagnosis proximate to death, controlling for age, sex, and education. Results A total of 37 had mild cognitive impairment, 60 did not have cognitive impairment, and 83 had dementia proximate to death. Nearly all persons had at least some AD pathology. Cerebral infarctions were present in 35.2%, and 15.6% had Lewy body disease. Persons with mild cognitive impairment were intermediate in terms of Braak stage and CERAD and NIA-Reagan neuropathologic criteria for AD compared to the other two groups. In multiple regression analyses, persons with mild cognitive impairment had intermediate levels of AD pathology from those without cognitive impairment and those with dementia (test for trend, F = 45.2, p Conclusion These data suggest that mild cognitive impairment may be the earliest clinical manifestation of common age-related neurologic diseases.
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APA 7th
Bennett, D. A., Schneider, J. A., Bienias, J. L., Evans, D. A., & Wilson, R. S. (2005). Mild cognitive impairment is related to Alzheimer disease pathology and cerebral infarctions. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000152982.47274.9e
Vancouver
Bennett DA, Schneider JA, Bienias JL, Evans DA, Wilson RS. Mild cognitive impairment is related to Alzheimer disease pathology and cerebral infarctions. Neurology. 2005. doi:10.1212/01.wnl.0000152982.47274.9e. PMID: 15753419.
BibTeX
@article{bennett2005-15753419,
author = {Bennett, D. A. and Schneider, J. A. and Bienias, J. L. and Evans, D. A. and Wilson, R. S.},
title = {{Mild cognitive impairment is related to Alzheimer disease pathology and cerebral infarctions}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2005},
doi = {10.1212/01.wnl.0000152982.47274.9e},
pmid = {15753419},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000152982.47274.9e}
}
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Key findings
- Results A total of 37 had mild cognitive impairment, 60 did not have cognitive impairment, and 83 had dementia proximate to death.
- Persons with mild cognitive impairment were intermediate in terms of Braak stage and CERAD and NIA-Reagan neuropathologic criteria for AD compared to the other two groups.
- In multiple regression analyses, persons with mild cognitive impairment had intermediate levels of AD pathology from those without cognitive impairment and those with dementia (test for trend, F = 45.2, p < 0.001).
Why it matters
Researchers examined the brains of 180 Catholic clergy from the Religious Orders Study after death and compared them with each person's last clinical diagnosis: 60 had no cognitive impairment, 37 had mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 83 had dementia. Nearly everyone had some Alzheimer's pathology, and on Braak stage and CERAD and NIA-Reagan criteria the MCI group fell between the other two groups; the authors say this suggests MCI "may be the earliest clinical manifestation of common age-related neurologic diseases." It is an autopsy association study in one specialised group: it does not show that MCI always leads to dementia, and it does not test any treatment or prevention.
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Study details
- Participants180
- Effect size35.2%; 15.6%
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 58/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 56 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 58 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Neurology: journal h-index 525 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2005 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 180 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 538 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 23.4 citations a year over 23 year(s) since 2005 |
| Impact for its field and year | 5 / 6 | Cited 24.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 4 / 6 | Cited by 69 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 43 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | Rush University Medical Center: institution h-index 670 (OpenAlex) |
| Multicenter collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 15753419) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 56 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 56 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 58 out of 100. |
| Total | 58 / 100 | — |
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