With increasing life expectancy world wide, the number of elderly people at risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) is growing rapidly. The prevalence of AD rises steeply with age doubling every 4-5 years from the age of 60, so that more than one-third of individuals over 80 years of age are likely to develop AD. Current conceptualizations of AD presume that the neurodegenerative changes begin well before the full clinical manifestations of the disease become apparent. Identification of these early changes would allow identifying persons at high risk of AD who may benefit from preventive and therapeutic interventions at a potentially reversible stage.

We invite investigators to contribute original research articles as well as review articles that will stimulate the continuing efforts to improve early detection of Alzheimer's disease. We would encourage manuscripts that focus on molecular, proteomic, genetic, imaging, or translational approaches for early diagnosis or that assess criteria for clinical characterization of AD or mild cognitive impairment. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Studies assessing criteria for clinical characterization of AD or mild cognitive impairment
• Studies employing autopsy data, neuropsychological measures, imaging markers, or CSF and blood biomarkers for early diagnosis
• Genetic linkage and association studies of preclinical AD/mild cognitive impairment
• Meta-analyses of existing data
• Pharmacogenomic or pharmacogenetic studies in preclinical AD/mild cognitive impairment

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijad/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: