An international research team has developed a new way to screen for age-related cognitive decline at home. The simple, cost-effective approach uses a test that asks people to detect sounds and flashes on their laptop or phone.

The test may be used to improve early diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and provide interventions as early as possible. MCI can develop into Alzheimer’s disease in 30 to 50 percent of people.

There are currently no diagnostic blood tests such as those for diabetes for MCI. The existing diagnosis involves lengthy neuropsychological assessments with tests of cognitive control and memory, along with questions about daily activities and mood. These costly tests require training, often take a lot of patient and clinician time, and can be impacted by factors such as the individual’s IQ, socio-economic status and even the testers themselves. As a result, with an aging global population, and around 50 million people estimated to be living with dementia worldwide, there is an urgent need for such a test.

During a trial, 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, and at other times the two appeared simultaneously. The participants included 51 healthy young adults, 49 healthy older adults and 23 older MCI adults.

The researchers then extracted two measures about each person’s performance: 1) whether they were faster at detecting flashes or sound, and 2) the extent to which they benefited from detecting an auditory-visual event versus either flashes or sounds. By using just these two measures, the team could accurately tell if a person was diagnosed with MCI using standard clinical tests.

The results help clarify the link between vision and hearing and their role in supporting memory function. New ways are now sought to validate the screening tool.

Scientists from University of Lausanne (Switzerland), Vanderbilt University, University of Westminster (U.K.), University of London (U.K.) and the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland contributed to this research, which is published in Scientific Reports.

Mean reaction times (standard error of the mean indicated) of the three groups on the multisensory detection task. (HY = healthy young, HO = healthy older, MCI = mild cognitive impairment). Source: Scientific ReportsMean reaction times (standard error of the mean indicated) of the three groups on the multisensory detection task. (HY = healthy young, HO = healthy older, MCI = mild cognitive impairment). Source: Scientific Reports

To contact the author of this article, email shimmelstein@globalspec.com