Neuroscientists from Leiden University in the Netherlands have discovered a new way to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease. It has been found that the finger tapping test can reflect a person’s level of cognitive ability and identify disorders. In this respect reports MedicalXpress.
100 volunteers, 47 healthy, 27 with mild cognitive impairment and 26 with Alzheimer’s disease, participated in the study. They all performed a task that involved touching the keyboard with their fingers. The scientists asked the subjects to use one finger, such as the index finger, or several fingers on each hand. The computer analyzed how quickly people started pressing a key after the start signal, how many keys were pressed in a certain period of time, and also took into account how long the intervals between keystrokes lasted.
It turns out that people with Alzheimer’s disease react more slowly to the start signal and also click irregularly. Subjects with moderately reduced cognitive abilities showed better results; They pressed the key more regularly and quickly. But their results were worse than those of completely healthy participants. Based on these data, the computer determined which group the participant belonged to; in 70% of cases the group was selected correctly.
The researchers noted that this testing method may be suitable as a tool for the primary diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
It was before was created A simple test that predicts Alzheimer’s disease 20 years before it occurs.