New Screening Tool Could Help Diagnose Early Cognitive Decline in Dementia From Home

A study published in Scientific Reports details a new home-based method for screening for age-related cognitive decline through a test that asks people to detect sounds and flashes on their laptop or phone, reports ScienceDaily . The researchers found the test could help improve early diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and provide interventions as early as possible. A total of 123 participants were asked to press a button whenever they saw a flash of light or heard a sound. At times, the flashes or sounds were presented alone, while at other times the two appeared simultaneously. Included were 51 healthy young adults, 49 healthy older adults, and 23 older MCI adults. The team measured whether participants were faster at detecting flashes or sound, and the degree to which they benefited from detecting an auditory-visual event compared to either flashes or sounds. These measures enabled the researchers to accurately ascertain a person was diagnosed with MCI using standard clinical tests. "Our findings open the exciting possibility that a simple perceptual task could be a valuable complementary screening and assessment tool for MCI," notes City University of London's Trudi Edginton. "However, the test we introduced should not yet be considered as a substitute or replacement for tests currently used in clinical practice."