Somewhere between misplacing your keys, missing an important appointment, or forgetting an acquaintance’s name and developing a full-blown case of dementia is a condition researchers call mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
MCI is cognitive decline beyond what you would expect to see in a person based on normal aging and other factors. It may be an early signal for the future onset of dementia, or it could be a temporary reaction to an underlying disease or even be stress related. In the latter cases, MCI would most likely either reverse itself or remain stable.
Whether the MCI is temporary, stable, or progressive, this form of cognitive decline is a definite change in a person’s daily activities and most typically involves a person’s memory….