Game-Changing Intervention For Dementia

Dementia may be diagnosed earlier with the help of digital toolbox as per a study at the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Public Health (BUSPH), published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, a journal of the Alzheimer's Association.

Although there are several tests to assess cognitive function using paper and pencil tests, several important information is missed regarding the process that a person uses to answer the question.

‘Early detection of dementia may allow for game-changing interventions well before brain changes occur with the help of a digital toolbox. ’

"Rather than just being able to say that someone performed poorly on a cognitive test, these digital metrics allow us to delve further into the specific cognitive and physical functions that may be underlying poor test performance for a specific individual," says corresponding author Mandy (Mengtian) Du, PhD, a graduate student at BUSPH.

"We use our brains to carry out all of the activities in our daily lives. With digital technologies, such as digital pens or even our smart phones and activity trackers, we have the ability to record high-precision data on our cognitive behaviors every day," says coauthor Stacy Andersen, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at BUSM.

Source: Medindia