Older adults at risk of dementia can be identified using mobile data captured during wayfinding tasks, a new real-world study suggests.
Researchers found that older adults with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) were more likely to stop and turn around more frequently than older adults without SCD during a smartphone-based treasure hunt on a college campus. observed. This behavior served as an identifier for individuals with SCD.
“Deficiencies in spatial navigation are one of the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease,” said study researcher Nadine Diersch, Ph.D., a visiting researcher at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Tübingen, Germany. Medscape Medical News.
Diersch said the study “examines what the digital footprint of early dementia-related cognitive decline looks like in a real-world environment during short-term (less than 30 minutes) remote wayfinding tasks. “This provides the first evidence that
The study was published online on October 3. PLOS Digital Health.
Orientation problem
Seventy-two men and women, ranging in age from their mid-20s to mid-60s, participated in the study. Twenty-three of the 48 older adults had SCD but still had normal scores on neuropsychological evaluation.
All study participants were asked to independently locate five buildings on the medical campus of the Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg in Magdeburg, Germany, using a smartphone app developed by the research team. Their movement patterns were tracked using GPS.
All participants had similar knowledge of the campus and had extensive experience using smartphones. I also practiced how to use the app beforehand.
In most cases, participants reached their five destinations within 30 minutes. Younger participants performed better than older participants. On average, younger adults walked shorter distances and generally used app help features less frequently than older adults.
In older adults, the number of disorientations predicted SCD status. Adults with SCD tended to be more hesitant at intersections. Diersch said a decline in executive function could explain this finding.
“Intact executive function is a key element for efficient navigation, for example when switching between different navigation strategies or when planning a route. However, this was the first study on the subject, so Further research is needed to determine the precise contribution of different cognitive functions to processing digital wayfinding data,” Diersch said.
Further research suggests that “we believe that such smartphone-based wayfinding tasks performed in the immediate vicinity could be used as low-threshold screening tools, for example for enhanced cognitive and clinical diagnosis. For example, to stratify subjects in terms of their need for specialized care,” she added.
“Game changer”
Shaheen Lakhan, MD, a neurologist and researcher based in Miami, Florida, who was not involved in the study, commented on the study and said the findings “will revolutionize dementia care.” He said it was possible.
“We’ve seen smartphones change everything from banking to dating, and now they’re reimagining brain health monitoring. This ingenious digital scavenger hunt “It avoids complex testing and detects cognitive decline in real-world scenarios. This is a game changer,” Lacan said.
“Just like we track steps and calories, we will soon be able to track our cognitive health with a tap. “We’re not just talking about convenience, we’re talking about catching Alzheimer’s disease before it happens,” he says. added.
Lacan pointed out that the next step will be to develop smartphone apps as digital therapeutics, not only to detect cognitive decline, but also to treat and prevent it.
“Imagine if your phone not only alerts you to potential problems, but also provides personalized brain training exercises to keep your mind sharp and resilient against dementia.” Mr. Lacan says.
This research was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) within the Joint Research Center “Neural Resources of Cognition” and the DZNE Innovation-2-Application Award.. Diersch is now a full-time employee of neotiv GmbH. Mr. Lacan had no relevant disclosures.
