Olfactory Deficits in MCI as Predictor of Improved Cognition on Donepezil
Mild Cognitive Impairment

About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Mild Cognitive Impairment focused on measuring Olfaction, Donepezil, Alzheimer's Disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Memory
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Of either sex, age 55-95 years old
Patients who meet criteria for amnestic mild cognitive impairment by meeting all of the following:
(i) subjective memory complaints (ii) Wechsler Memory Scale-R Logical Memory combined Story A + B immediate recall score or combined Story A + B delayed recall score or Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test immediate recall or delayed recall score greater than 1.5 Standard Deviation (SD) below norms or Selective Reminding Test immediate recall or delayed recall score greater than 1.5 SD below norms iii) no functional impairment consistent with dementia
- Folstein Mini Mental State (MMSE) score ≥ 23 out of 30
- Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) of 0.5 (questionable dementia)
- Availability of informant
Exclusion Criteria:
- Meets Criteria for dementia by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV (DSM-IV) criteria or probable Alzheimer's disease
Meets DSM IV criteria for:
(i)schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, other psychosis, or bipolar I disorder (ii)alcohol or substance dependence or abuse (current or within past 6 months)
- Current untreated major depression or suicidality
- Parkinson's disease, Lewy body disease, multiple sclerosis, central nervous system infection, Huntington's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, other major neurological disorder.
- Mental Retardation
- Clinical stroke with residual neurological deficits. MRI findings of cerebrovascular disease (small infarcts, lacunes, periventricular disease) in the absence of clinical stroke with residual neurological deficits will not lead to exclusion.
- Patients receiving cholinesterase inhibitors (donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine) or memantine will be excluded.
- Acute, severe, unstable medical illness. For cancer, patients with active illness or metastases will be excluded, but past history of successfully treated cancer will not lead to exclusion.
- Medical contraindication to donepezil treatment or prior history of intolerability to donepezil treatment.
- Medications with anticholinergic effects that have been shown to adversely impact cognition will not be permitted. Benzodiazepines in lorazepam equivalents greater than or equal to 2 mg daily and narcotics will also not be permitted.
- Exclusion criterion for olfaction: history of anosmia due to any cause (e.g. traumatic or congenital) verified by UPSIT score of <11 out of 40; head trauma with loss of consciousness; nasal sinus disease, current upper respiratory infection; severe allergies to odors; current smoker > 1 pack daily.
Sites / Locations
- New York State Psychiatric Institute
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Experimental
Donepezil Treatment & Atropine Challenge
Atropine nasal spray is administered at baseline for the atropine challenge which involves administration of the 40-item University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) immediately before and 45 minutes after atropine administration. Immediately after the atropine challenge, donepezil treatment is started and continues for 52 weeks.