PHOENIX: A novel cognitive “stress test” that measures recovery from semantic interference can detect preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and is sensitive to amyloid deposition, new research shows.
The test is “very sensitive to very early cognitive impairment in older adults. We could see a clear delineation between people who had normal cognition to those with subjective memory disorders, preclinical stages of mild cognitive impairment (preMCI), and amnestic MCI,” said David Loewenstein, PhD, codeveloper of the test.
“The levels of impairment on the test increased as you went from normal to subjective to preMCI to amnestic MCI. So we know that the test is very sensitive to early memory impairment,” said Dr Loewenstein.