Article originally published in English
According to the researchers, the application could be used to detect early signs of dementia in younger people, as well as to monitor the effects of treatment.
ADVERTISING
A smartphone app can be used in cognitive tests to diagnose the most common form of dementia in people under 60.
Researchers at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), in the USA, discovered that tests carried out remotely via a smartphone can help detect frontotemporal dementia in people genetically predisposed to this disease before the onset of symptoms.
Frontotemporal disorders or dementia (FTD) refer to several diseases of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain that typically affect people aged between 45 and 64.
There are several symptoms of FTD, including behavioral changes, difficulties relating to loved ones, and apathy.
According to Alzheimer’s Research UK, around 30 percent of cases have a family history of FTD.
UCSF researchers say there is an “urgent need” to find reliable digital tests for neurodegenerative diseases. Previous studies have shown that smartphones can be useful in collecting cognitive data, they added.
“Eventually, the app could be used to monitor treatment effects, replacing many or most in-person visits to clinical trial sites,” said Adam Staffaroni, associate professor at UCSF and first author of the study.
Smartphone application test ‘more sensitive to first symptoms’
The researchers partnered with software company Datacubed Health to conduct tests that look at executive functioning, such as planning or organizing, and impulse control, as the part of the brain that controls executive functioning can atrophy over time. as the disease progresses.
Data collected included voice recordings, as well as gait, balance and language tests.
The application was tested between 2019 and 2023 with 360 participants, 209 women and 151 men. The average age of participants was 54 years old.
Many were genetically predisposed to contracting the disease but had not yet developed symptoms.
Scientists found that smartphone tests accurately identified individuals with dementia and were “more sensitive to early symptoms” than a typical clinical cognitive test.
It is believed that patients respond better to treatment at an early stage, but FTD is not easy to diagnose.
“Most FTD patients are diagnosed relatively late because they are young and their symptoms are mistaken for psychiatric disorders,” said Adam Boxer, professor of memory and aging at UCSF and senior author of the study.
“We hear from families that they often suspect their loved one has FTD long before a doctor agrees on the diagnosis,” Boxer said.
In the last two years, the disease has gained public prominence with celebrities Bruce Willis and Wendy Williams announcing that they had been diagnosed with the disease.
