Testing verbal fluency would be an effective tool for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s diseaseaccording to the results of a study published in the journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Indeed, from the onset of the disease, it becomes more and more complicated for patients to conjugate verbs in a given time.
Researchers at the Institut Català de Neurociències Aplicades Research Institute in Spain conducted a study with 568 elderly people with good cognitive health, 885 with mild cognitive impairment and 367 with Alzheimer’s. The participants underwent neuropsychological tests and their verbal fluency was tested.
Decline in verbal fluency heralds Alzheimer’s disease
The results of the study showed that all groups of participants saw their verbal performance deteriorate, and fluency test scores are linked to when participants “transition” from mild cognitive impairment to dementia. Thus, the faster the transition from one state of cognitive health to another, the greater the decrease in the score.
“This type of test provides a representation of the gradation of cognitive impairment related to normal aging to pathological cognitive impairment. The tool appears to be more suitable for detecting cognitive decline in healthy aging people. Lastly, it is easy to carry out in practice “it is just necessary for a chronometer”, explained doctor Montserrat Alegret, head of neuropsychology who thus asks to “integrate this test in the context of a complete neuropsychological evaluation of the memory “.
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