Mobile technologies in the early detection of cognitive decline.

Michèle Allard, Mathilde Husky, Gwénaëlle Catheline, Amandine Pelletier, Bixente Dilharreguy, Hélène Amieva, Karine Pérès, Alexandra Foubert-Samier, Jean-François Dartigues, Joel Swendsen
PLoS ONE. 2014-12-23; 9(12): e112197
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0112197

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1. PLoS One. 2014 Dec 23;9(12):e112197. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0112197.
eCollection 2014.

Mobile technologies in the early detection of cognitive decline.

Allard M(1), Husky M(2), Catheline G(3), Pelletier A(3), Dilharreguy B(2), Amieva
H(4), Pérès K(4), Foubert-Samier A(5), Dartigues JF(5), Swendsen J(3).

Author information:
(1)Univ. Bordeaux, INCIA, UMR 5287, Bordeaux, France; CNRS, INCIA, UMR 5287,
Bordeaux, France; EPHE, Bordeaux, France; CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
(2)Univ. Bordeaux, INCIA, UMR 5287, Bordeaux, France; CNRS, INCIA, UMR 5287,
Bordeaux, France.
(3)Univ. Bordeaux, INCIA, UMR 5287, Bordeaux, France; CNRS, INCIA, UMR 5287,
Bordeaux, France; EPHE, Bordeaux, France.
(4)Univ. Bordeaux, ISPED, Centre INSERM U897, Bordeaux, France; INSERM, ISPED,
Centre INSERM U897, Bordeaux, France.
(5)CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Univ. Bordeaux, ISPED, Centre INSERM U897,
Bordeaux, France; INSERM, ISPED, Centre INSERM U897, Bordeaux, France.

The identification of biological and pathophysiological processes implicated in
different forms of dementia is itself dependent on reliable descriptions of
cognitive performance and capacities. However, traditional instruments are often
unable to detect subtle declines in cognitive functions due to natural variation
at the time of testing. Mobile technologies permit the repeated assessment of
cognitive functions and may thereby provide more reliable descriptions of early
cognitive difficulties that are inaccessible to clinic or hospital-based
instruments. This assessment strategy is also able to characterize in real-time
the dynamic associations between cognitive performance and specific daily life
behaviors or activities. In a cohort of elderly rural residents, 60 individuals
were administered neuropsychological and neuroimaging exams as well as a one-week
period of electronic ambulatory monitoring of behavior, semantic memory
performance, and daily life experiences. Whereas imaging markers were unrelated
to traditional neuropsychological test scores, they were significantly associated
with mobile assessments of semantic memory performance. Moreover, certain daily
life activities such as reading or completing crossword puzzles were associated
with increases in semantic memory performance over the subsequent hours of the
same day. The revolution in mobile technologies provides unprecedented
opportunities to overcome the barriers of time and context that characterize
traditional hospital and clinical-based assessments. The combination of both
novel and traditional methods should provide the best opportunity for identifying
the earliest risk factors and biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms
of dementia.

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0112197
PMCID: PMC4275158
PMID: 25536290 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

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