New Findings from University of Cape Town Yields New Data on Alzheimer Disease (Both Reaction Time and Accuracy Measures of Intraindividual…

New Findings from University of Cape Town Yields New Data on Alzheimer Disease (Both Reaction Time and Accuracy Measures of Intraindividual Variability Predict Cognitive Performance in Alzheimer's Disease)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Mental Health Weekly Digest -- Current study results on Neurodegenerative Diseases and Conditions - Alzheimer Disease have been published. According to news reporting from Cape Town, South Africa, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, "Dementia researchers around the world prioritize the urgent need for sensitive measurement tools that can detect cognitive and functional change at the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Sensitive indicators of underlying neural pathology assist in the early detection of cognitive change and are thus important for the evaluation of early-intervention clinical trials."

Financial support for this research came from National Research Foundation (see also Neurodegenerative Diseases and Conditions - Alzheimer Disease).

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from the University of Cape Town, "One method that may be particularly well-suited to help achieve this goal involves the quantification of intraindividual variability (IIV) in cognitive performance. The current study aimed to directly compare two methods of estimating IIV (fluctuations in accuracy-based scores vs. those in latency-based scores) to predict cognitive performance in AD. Specifically, we directly compared the relative sensitivity of reaction time (RT)-and accuracy-based estimates of IIV to cognitive compromise. The novelty of the present study, however, centered on the patients we tested [a group of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD)] and the outcome measures we used (a measure of general cognitive function and a measure of episodic memory function). Hence, we compared intraindividual standard deviations (iSDs) from two RT tasks and three accuracy-based memory tasks in patients with possible or probable Alzheimer's dementia (=23) and matched healthy controls (=25). The main analyses modeled the relative contributions of RT vs. accuracy-based measures of IIV toward the prediction of performance on measures of (a) overall cognitive functioning, and (b) episodic memory functioning. Results indicated that RT-based IIV measures are superior predictors of neurocognitive impairment (as indexed by overall cognitive and memory performance) than accuracy-based IIV measures, even after adjusting for the timescale of measurement. However, one accuracy-based IIV measure (derived from a recognition memory test) also differentiated patients with AD from controls, and significantly predicted episodic memory performance. The findings suggest that both RT-and accuracy-based IIV measures may be useful indicators of underlying neuropathology."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "The present study therefore contributes toward an understanding of the relative utility of RT-and accuracy-based IIV measures in detecting neurocognitive impairment in older adults, and also advances the empirical evaluation of sensitive markers of cognitive change in patients with AD."

For more information on this research see: Both Reaction Time and Accuracy Measures of Intraindividual Variability Predict Cognitive Performance in Alzheimer's Disease. Frontiers In Human Neuroscience, 2018;12():124.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting B.U. Christ, Applied Cognitive Science and Experimental Neuropsychology Team Laboratory, Dept. of Psychology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. Additional authors for this research include M.I. Combrinck and K.GF Thomas.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00124. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Keywords for this news article include: Dementia, Cape Town, Tauopathies, South Africa, Alzheimer Disease, Health and Medicine, Brain Diseases and Conditions, Neurodegenerative Diseases and Conditions, Central Nervous System Diseases and Conditions.

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