Estimating presymptomatic episodic memory impairment using simple hand movement tests: A cross‐sectional study of a large sample of older adults

Wang, Xinyi; St George, Rebecca J; Bindoff, Aidan D; Noyce, Alastair J; Lawler, Katherine; Roccati, Eddy; Bartlett, Larissa; Tran, Son N; Vickers, James C; Bai, Quan; Alty, Jane

doi:10.26181/23807232.v1

Estimating presymptomatic episodic memory impairment using simple hand movement tests: A cross‐sectional study of a large sample of older adults

journal contribution

posted on 2024-01-23, 03:50 authored by Xinyi Wang, Rebecca J St George, Aidan D Bindoff, Alastair J Noyce, Katherine LawlerKatherine Lawler, Eddy Roccati, Larissa Bartlett, Son N Tran, James C Vickers, Quan Bai, Jane Alty

Abstract:-

INTRODUCTION: Finding low-cost methods to detect early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a research priority for neuroprotective drug development. Presymptomatic Alzheimer's is associated with gait impairment but hand motor tests, which are more accessible, have hardly been investigated. This study evaluated how home-based Tasmanian (TAS) Test keyboard tapping tests predict episodic memory performance.

METHODS: 1169 community participants (65.8 ± 7.4 years old; 73% female) without cognitive symptoms completed online single-key and alternate-key tapping tests and episodic memory, working memory, and executive function cognitive tests.

RESULTS: All single-key (R2adj = 8.8%, ΔAIC = 5.2) and alternate-key (R2adj = 9.1%, ΔAIC = 8.8) motor features predicted episodic memory performance relative to demographic and mood confounders only (R2adj = 8.1%). No tapping features improved estimation of working memory.

DISCUSSION: Brief self-administered online hand movement tests predict asymptomatic episodic memory impairment. This provides a potential low-cost home-based method for stratification of enriched cohorts.

Highlights: We devised two brief online keyboard tapping tests to assess hand motor function. 1169 cognitively asymptomatic adults completed motor- and cognitive tests online. Impaired hand motor function predicted reduced episodic memory performance. This brief self-administered test may aid stratification of community cohorts.

Funding

The authors are grateful for contributions made by the ISLAND project team and the support of the J.O. and J.R. Wicking Trust (Equity Trustees).This study was funded through the National Health and Medical Research Council grant (2004051) and the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRF1170820).

History

Publication Date

2024-01-01

Journal

Alzheimer's & Dementia

Volume

20

Issue

1

Pagination

10p. (p.173-182)

Publisher

Wiley

ISSN

1552-5260

Rights Statement

© 2023 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.