Overview
- A two-year randomized, placebo-controlled University of Pittsburgh study in adults aged 60 and older with mild cognitive impairment tested low-dose oral lithium.
- Participants receiving lithium showed a slower rate of decline on a sensitive verbal-memory measure than those on placebo, though the pilot was not powered for definitive efficacy.
- Brain MRI revealed hippocampal shrinkage in both groups without a statistically significant difference between lithium and placebo.
- Exploratory analyses suggested greater benefit among participants who were amyloid-beta positive, a subset because enrollment was not based on blood-based screening.
- Low-dose lithium was safe and well tolerated with monitoring, and investigators plan a larger trial that uses blood tests to enrich for likely responders and assess efficacy more conclusively.