The three -minute test helps identify people more at risk of Alzheimer’s, test discoveries | Medical research

A three -minute brain wave test can detect memory problems related to Alzheimer’s disease long before people are generally diagnosed, which has hoped that the approach could help identify the most likely to benefit from new drugs for the disease.

In a small trial, the test reported specific memory problems in people with slight cognitive impairment, stressing who was more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease. Tests in larger groups are underway.

The quick ball test is a form of electroencephalogram (EEG) which uses small sensors on the scalp to record electrical activity of the brain while people watch a flow of images on a screen. The test detects memory problems by analyzing the automatic brain responses to the images that the person sees before the test.

“This shows us that our new passive measurement of memory, which we have specifically built for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, can be sensitive to people at very high risk but who are not yet diagnosed,” said Dr. George Stothart, cognitive neuroscientist of the University of Bath, where the test was developed.

The trial, managed with the University of Bristol, involved 54 healthy adults and 52 patients with light cognitive disorders (MCI). People with MCI have problems with memory, thought or language, but these are generally not serious enough to prevent them from doing their daily activities.

Before the test, the volunteers were shown eight images and said to appoint them, but not specifically to remember them or monitor them in the test. The researchers then recorded the brain activity of the participants while looking at hundreds of images appear on a screen. Each image appeared for a third of a second and each fifth image was one of the eight they had seen before.

Scientists have found that people with amnestical MCI, which largely affects a person’s memory for objects, had reduced responses to the test compared to healthy adults and those with non -amnestical MCI. People with MCI Amnesics are often more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those with non -amnestical MCI.

The test cannot identify who will certainly develop Alzheimer’s disease. But if larger studies confirm the results, this could help doctors to assess early which patients are at high risk and could benefit from the most new Alzheimer’s drugs such as Donanemab and Lecanemab.

All tests were carried out at people’s home, which, according to Stothart, was important to make them accessible and reduce people’s anxiety. Details are published in Brain Communications.

Professor Vladimir Litvak, of the Queen Square Institute of Neurology of the UCL, said that it was “an early step towards the development of a clinically useful test”. A next crucial step, he said, would be to determine if it can predict how a person’s condition changes over time and clarify decisions on their treatment.

Dr. Julia Dudley, Alzheimer’s Research Uk, said: “It is encouraging to see studies exploring the potential means of detecting memory problems earlier. The treatments of the new Alzheimer is more effective when given to the previous stages of the disease, so a diagnosis earlier is essential for people to benefit from it.

“Studies in the longer term in larger groups of people are necessary to know if this technology can predict how memory problems will take place over time. Memory disorders can also be linked to other health problems, not just dementia. Future research should examine how other factors can influence the results of brain tests and explore how these tests could work in parallel with other diagnostic tools such as cognitive assessments and blood tests. “