Tamara Thomas

AZUHT-PRODUCTIONwarmup

Smartphone data collected in conditions close to everyday life may be helpful for early detection and monitoring of Alzheimer&#8217;s disease, according to a study published in PLOS Digital Health.
Emerging research in Alzheimer&#8217;s disease diagnosis is focused on developing methods to detect the disease earlier in its progression. In this study, Jonas Marquardt, a PhD student in the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Magdeburg, and colleagues introduce an innovative method to detect cognitive decline using digital data obtained during a real-world wayfinding task.
Dr. Marquardt and colleagues included 72 women and men, ranging from people in their mid-twenties to those in their mid-sixties. Of the participants, 24 were younger adults, 25 were cognitively healthy older adults, and 23 were diagnosed with subjective cognitive decline (SCD).
The researchers instructed all participants to independently find several buildings on the University of Magdeburg medical campus, guided by a mobile app,  while GPS tracked their movement patterns.
The participants had to visit 5 buildings in a row along a route of about 800 meters. According to the researchers, the app served as a pacemaker, displaying &#8220;a map with the current position and the next destination, including a photo of it.&#8221;
&#8220;Our participants had similar knowledge of the campus area, and they were all experienced in using smartphones. We also practiced using the app beforehand,&#8221; explains Marquardt.
At the beginning of the walking track, participants were shown a map on their smartphones indicating their location and a specified point of interest. They were then asked to close the map before starting. Participants could view the map again if needed, and the number of times they accessed this feature was recorded for each track.
&#8220;The participants had to memorize the layout of the streets, their position, and their destination, and then follow their sense of direction and spatial memory,&#8221; Marquardt says. &#8220;If they got lost, they could press a help button in the app. The map, their position, and their destination would then briefly reappear.&#8221;
Marquardt and her team of researchers leveraged the GPS data to generate individual mobility profiles and other information.
The researchers found that healthy younger adults performed better overall in finding the buildings than both older groups. On average, younger participants walked shorter distances and generally did not use the help function as often as the older ones. According to the authors, this indicated that their &#8220;real-world task is sensitive to age-related changes.&#8221;
The authors identified a more nuanced difference between healthy older adults and patients with subjective cognitive decline. Specifically, the researchers found that the number of brief stops while navigating to different locations in the environment differed between healthy older adults and SCD patients.
&#8220;Older adults with SCD briefly stopped during walking more often, presumably to orient themselves, than older adults without SCD. In fact, we were able to identify participants with SCD based on this parameter,&#8221; the authors explain.
According to Dr. Narlene Diersch, one of the study co-authors, it is not yet clear why people with SCD stand out, especially as they tend to hesitate more at intersections in particular. She believes this suggests that certain decision-making processes are altered in people with SCD. However, she noted that the data are not yet conclusive.
&#8220;Nevertheless, the results of our study are a promising proof of concept. They show that smartphone data can help detect subtle signs of cognitive decline in realistic contexts,&#8221;  Dr. Diersch added.
Source:<a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/10/241003145429.htm"> ScienceDaily</a>
Journal: <a href="https://journals.plos.org/digitalhealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pdig.0000613#sec008">PLOS Digital Health</a>

Women At Higher Genetic Risk for PTSD Than Men

Women's Health

Smartphone Mobility Data  May Be Useful for Identifying People at Risk for Dementia

Neurology Diagnostics

Katie Kosko

African American Patients With RCC at Increased Risk of Death

SUO 2024

Latest News

The participants had to visit 5 buildings in a row along a route of about 800 meters