Table 1.
Socio-demographic data of the sample and group comparison for cholinergic structure and function. Student’s t-tests were used for group differences if not indicated otherwise
| Healthy controls | MCI | p-value | |||
| Mean | SD | Mean | SD | ||
| n (f/m) | 20 (6/14) | 20 (10/10) | 0.19 (χ2 test) | ||
| age (years) | 69.7 | 5.4 | 72.7 | 5.6 | 0.12 |
| years of education | 15.0 | 3.8 | 13.2 | 3.3 | 0.10 |
| BDI-II | 7.4 | 5.7 | 8.1 | 5.8 | 0.67 |
| MoCA (0–30) | 27.8 | 1.9 | 22.5 | 2.7 | <0.001 |
| Word learning, VLMT (0–75) | 52.4 | 9.7 | 32.8 | 9.2 | <0.001 |
| Verbal delayed recall, VLMT (0–15) | 10.8 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 2.9 | <0.001 |
| Mean of SAI 20 and 21 | 0.54 | 0.19 | 0.69 | 0.33 | 0.07 |
| BFCS (volume in mm3) | 637.6 | 53.8 | 557.0 | 68.6 | <0.001 |
| Hippocampus (volume in mm3) | 7481.2 | 607.1 | 6790.7 | 1074.7 | <0.05 |
SD, standard deviation; MCI, mild cognitive impairment; BDI, Beck’s Depression Inventory-II; MoCA, Montreal Cognitive Assessment; VLMT, Verbal Learning and Memory Test; n, number; BFCS, basal forebrain cholinergic system; SAI, short afferent inhibition. Basal forebrain and hippocampal volumes indicate the sum of left and right hemispheres.