The disease mainly manifests itself in middle age. About a third of cases of this disease have a genetic cause.
Scientists have developed a smartphone app that can help identify early signs of frontotemporal dementia in people at high risk of developing it. The Guardian reported this.
Scientists have shown that cognitive tests administered using a smartphone app are as sensitive as clinical tests in detecting early signs of the disease.
However, there are challenges in diagnosing such dementia and monitoring people’s response to treatment, which may only be effective in the early stages.
“Most patients with frontotemporal dementia are diagnosed at relatively late stages of the disease because they are young and their symptoms are not identified as psychiatric disorders,” said study co-author Dr. Adam Boxer of the University of California, San Francisco.
So the researchers’ goal is to create a cognitive test app that can record people’s speech as they take them. In particular, they include the assessment of executive functions.
They tested the app on 360 adults with a high genetic risk of developing frontotemporal dementia, including those who had not yet developed overt symptoms.
The experiment showed that the app can accurately detect dementia in such people, and may be more sensitive to early signs of frontotemporal dementia than standard neuropsychological tests performed in clinics.
Currently, the scientists have no plans to make the application publicly available.
It should be remembered that frontotemporal dementia is a disease that causes a decrease in the number of neurons in the cortex of the frontal and/or temporal lobe of the brain. Therefore, human skills, such as the ability to plan ahead, prioritize tasks, filter out distractions, and control impulses, become impaired.
It was previously reported that scientists from McMaster University Medical School discovered that excess weight can lead not only to cardiovascular disease, but also to dementia.
Scientists have identified a common cause of dementia
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Source: korrespondent
I am Ben Stock, a passionate and experienced digital journalist working in the news industry. At the Buna Times, I write articles covering technology developments and related topics. I strive to provide reliable information that my readers can trust. My research skills are top-notch, as well as my ability to craft engaging stories on timely topics with clarity and accuracy.