Smartphone App Could Help Detect Early-Onset Dementia, Study Finds
App-Based Cognitive Tests Show Promise in Early Detection
A smartphone app has shown promising results in the early detection of frontotemporal dementia, a leading cause of early-onset dementia, according to recent data. The app utilizes cognitive tests that can detect early signs of frontotemporal dementia in individuals with a genetic predisposition to the condition. This breakthrough suggests that the tests done through the app are as sensitive, if not more, as the medical evaluations performed in clinics.
Frontotemporal Dementia and its Impact
Frontotemporal dementia is a neurological disorder that often affects individuals in midlife. As the disease progresses, the region of the brain responsible for essential skills such as planning, prioritizing tasks, and impulse control begins to shrink. The early diagnosis of the condition has been a challenge, leading to delayed treatment and difficulty monitoring its progression.
Potential of Smartphone App in Frontotemporal Dementia Detection
Smartphones have shown promise as a tool for diagnosing and assessing various neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s diseases. Researchers, in collaboration with a software company called Datacubed Health, developed an app that records individuals’ speech while they engage with specific cognitive tests to assess executive functioning and other crucial aspects of cognitive ability. The study’s results demonstrated that the app accurately detects dementia, including the earliest stages when compared to standard clinical evaluations.
Aiding Research and Clinical Trials
The app, while not yet available to the general public, has the potential to support research into frontotemporal dementia. By alleviating the burden of in-person assessments for both patients, caregivers, and clinicians, it opens new opportunities for trials of promising therapies. Monitoring treatment effects through the app could eventually replace numerous in-person visits to clinical trial sites.
Looking Toward the Future
Over 30 clinical trials, aimed at slowing the progression of frontotemporal dementia in gene carriers, are currently underway or in the planning stages. However, the lack of easily collectable outcome measures sensitive to treatment effects during the early stages of the disease has been a significant challenge. The addition of smartphone assessments could potentially solve this obstacle and facilitate innovative trials.
