A standard memory test can help point to early cases of Alzheimer’s disease, say two University of Toronto researchers. They have discovered a simple method to enhance early detection of the illness.
Alzheimer’s is a debilitating disease that claims the lives of many elderly Canadians each year.
Currently incurable and difficult to diagnose, it is notorious for its vicious way of rendering victims incapable of caring even for themselves.
The disease causes deterioration in a part of the brain called the hippocampus that is responsible for verbal memory. Over time, holes begin to appear in the brain, causing a condition called atrophy. Current treatments for the disease slow its progress but never manage to cure it or repair the damage.
If doctors are to limit atrophy, early detection is imperative. This is where researchers at the University of Toronto have made significant strides. Psychology professor Konstantine Zakzanis and medical student Mark Boulos have discovered a connection between a simple verbal memory test and prediction of Alzheimer’s.
The pre-clinical phase, one of the earliest phases of the dementia, is the most difficult to detect because behavioural and physical symptoms are least obvious.
Zakzanis and Boulos’s work shows that a verbal memory test, called the California Verbal Learning Test, can be used to indicate the possibility of Alzheimer’s during the pre-clinical phase. This test requires subjects to remember lists of words over short and long durations.
“This simple verbal learning test could become a standard tool for diagnosing pre-clinical Alzheimer’s,” said Boulos.
Zakzanis and Boulos found that people who scored low on the test had a greater likelihood of acquiring Alzheimer’s as they aged. Their research was presented at the 110th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association on Aug. 25 in Chicago.
