Table 1.

Features of AD Phases as Described in the NIA/Alzheimer’s Association Criteria^a

Phase	Patient Features
Preclinical AD (research criteria only)	Is biomarker-positive, b asymptomatic, and at risk for developing MCI due to AD and AD dementia
	Is biomarker-positiveb and has subtle age-inappropriate cognitive decline
	Does not meet the criteria for MCI due to AD
MCI due to AD	Is concerned about a change in cognition (or concern is expressed by an informant or clinician)
	Has education- and age-inappropriate cognitive impairment in =1 of the following domains:
	Memoryc
	Executive function
	Attention
	Language
	Visuospatial skills
	Has slight decline in performing functional tasks, but maintains independence
	Does not have vascular, traumatic, or medical causes of cognitive decline
	Does not meet the criteria for dementia
Probable dementia due to AD	Meets the criteria for all-cause dementia:
	Has gradual cognitive decline
	Has cognitive impairments that:
	Interfere with independence
	Are not due to delirium or another psychiatric disorder
	Have been designated via patient history and objective clinical assessment
	Are in = 2 of the following domains:
	Memory
	Reasoning and judgment
	Visuospatial skills
	Language functions
	Personality or behavior
	Has either amnestic (learning and recall) or nonamnestic (language, visuospatial, and executive dysfunction) cognitive impairments
	Does not have evidence of any of the following conditions:
	Cerebrovascular disease
	Dementia with Lewy bodies
	Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, primary progressive aphasia (semantic variant or nonfluent/ agrammatic variant), or another neurologic or medical disease or medication that could affect cognition

^aBased on Sperling et al,⁵ Albert et al,⁶ and McKhann et al.⁷

^bBiomarker-positive indicates that neuroimaging or cerebrospinal fluid assays have indicated that the individual has shown evidence of the pathophysiologic process associated with AD.

^cEpisodic memory impairment is most common in those who progress to AD dementia.

Abbreviations: AD = Alzheimer’s disease, MCI = mild cognitive impairment, NIA = National Institute on Aging.