Dementia is characterized by a long preclinical phase that may last years to decades before the onset of mild cognitive impairment. Slow gait speed and subjective memory complaint commonly co-occur during this preclinical phase, and each is a strong independent predictor of cognitive decline and dementia. Motoric cognitive risk (MCR) syndrome is a pre-dementia syndrome that combines these two early harbingers of dementia. The risk of cognitive decline or dementia is stronger for MCR than for either slow gait speed or subjective memory complaint alone. Slow gait speed and subjective memory complaint have several common risk factors: cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, abnormal cortisol profiles, low vitamin D levels, brain atrophy with decreased hippocampal volume, and increased deposition of beta-amyloid in the brain. The underlying pathogenesis of MCR remains poorly understood. Metabolomics and proteomics have great potential to provide new insights into biological pathways involved in MCR during the long preclinical phase preceding dementia.

痴呆症的特点是长期的临床前阶段，在轻度认知障碍发作之前可能持续数年至数十年。步态速度慢和主观记忆障碍通常在这个临床前阶段同时发生，并且每一个都是认知能力下降和痴呆的强有力的独立预测因素。运动认知风险（MCR）综合征是一种痴呆前期综合征，结合了这两种痴呆的早期先兆。 MCR 导致认知能力下降或痴呆的风险比单独的步态速度慢或主观记忆抱怨要大。步态速度慢和主观记忆不佳有几个常见的危险因素：心血管疾病、糖尿病、皮质醇异常、维生素 D 水平低、海马体积减少的脑萎缩以及大脑中 β-淀粉样蛋白沉积增加。 MCR 的潜在发病机制仍知之甚少。代谢组学和蛋白质组学具有巨大的潜力，可以为痴呆症之前的漫长临床前阶段中涉及 MCR 的生物途径提供新的见解。