![]() ![]() They were then asked to recall the items, which helped the researchers gauge each person’s ability to remember and retrieve information. To determine what stage people were in, they were shown four cards and asked to identify the pictured items (for example, a grape) along with the category the item was in (i.e. Clifford Segil, DO, a neurologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA. “A non-invasive screening test that would stratify future memory loss and cognitive risk would be of great use for clinical neurologists who care for and diagnose people with dementias,” says Dr. The participants in groups three and four were three times as likely to have cognitive impairment.īased on their calculations, the researchers estimated that 72% of people in stage three and four, 57% in stage two, and 21% in stage one would develop cognitive impairment after 10 years.Īccording to the researchers, the findings support the use of the SOMI system to predict future risk of cognitive impairment. Out of the entire group, 234 people, or 24%, developed cognitive decline by the end of the study period.Ĭompared to the stage zero group, those in stages one and two were twice as likely to develop impairment.Stage three and four are believed to precede dementia by one to three years. About 5% of the group were in stages three and four, meaning they had trouble recalling all of the items, even when hints were given. ![]() Another 35% were in stage one and 13% were in stage two, which meant they experienced some difficulty remembering information, and based on prediction models, may develop dementia within five to eight years.Researchers found 47% of the group were in stage zero, which marked no memory problems.The participants were split up into five groups that were based on their test scores and were tracked for up to 10 years. The researchers recruited 969 people, with an average age of 69, who had normal cognition at the start of the study.Īll participants completed a simple memory test that asked them to identify and recall items belonging to various categories. Subtle memory issues may predict later decline “The SOMI system, which subcategorizes participants based on their performance on this test, is a validated staging approach for impaired memory and has been previously shown to map memory performance to clinical outcomes and to biomarker tests that look for hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease,” Skylar-Scott, who was not part of the research, told Healthline. Those at risk could also be counseled to adopt interventions, like medications and healthy lifestyle modifications, to combat further decline. Given the study’s findings, future prevention-focused Alzheimer’s disease drug trials could selectively screen for high-risk individuals with high SOMI scores. Irina Skylar-Scott, a cognitive and behavioral neurologist at a Stanford Health Care and clinical assistant professor at Stanford University. Memory recall tests have been used for decades and impaired performance on these tests has been linked to mild cognitive impairment and dementia, says Dr. The study, published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, on Wednesday, found that people’s performance during the memory test - known as the Stages of Objective Memory Impairment (SOMI) system - could expose subtle signs of early cognitive impairment that are indicative of future memory issues. Early detection of cognitive impairment, especially with Alzheimer’s disease, can help people combat long-term memory issues.Ī simple memory test may be able to predict future cognitive decline in people with no current memory or thinking problems, new research shows.Memory recall tests have been used for decades and impaired performance on these tests has been linked to mild cognitive impairment and dementia.A recent study finds that a simple memory test may help predict people’s risk of cognitive decline.Share on Pinterest Morsa Images/Getty Images ![]()
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