The effect of memantine on cognitive performance with amnestic mild cognitive impairment

Objective: Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) refers to cognitive changes that occur during the period of normal cognitive decline and very early dementia. We aimed to assess the efficacy of memantine used for the treatment of patients with aMCI. Methods: All patients were diagnosed as having aMCI according to the Petersen criteria and were assigned to one of three groups. Group 1 comprised patients who received memantine following examination (n=23), group 2 included patients who did not receive memantine treatment following examination (n=22), and group 3 was constituted by healthy age-matched volunteers (n=20). Following the examinations, neuropsychiatric tests from the Turquoise Alzheimer"s Study Group database used in dementia polyclinics were performed. Results: The mean age of patients was 66±7.04 years in group 1, 65.3±6.20 years in group 2, and 57.6±5.40 years in group 3. The most noticeable improvements in group 1 were seen in the Mini-Mental State Exam, Wechsler memory scale subtests, Blessed Dementia Rating Scale, and the Boston Naming Test (p<0.05). Treatment with memantine was associated with an improvement in Geriatric Dementia Scale scores over the 24week study period. Conclusion: These results suggest that memantine treatment in patients with aMCI acts to enhance cognitive functioning compared with no treatment. These findings suggest the need for a larger randomized placebo-controlled trial.