A new study from Trinity’s School of Psychology has found that individuals’ self-perception of their memory may be a stronger predictor of dementia risk than their performance on standard cognitive tests.
Published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, the study utilised data from 3,327 volunteers who participated through the Neureka smartphone app.
The app, which was developed by neuroscientists at Trinity, uses gamified cognitive tests and questionnaires to assess mental abilities and mood in its users.
The study found that subjective memory complaints had a stronger correlation with known dementia risk factors, such as loneliness and hypertension, than objective cognitive tests, suggesting that self-reported memory issues could be an important tool in assessing dementia risk.
Lead author of the study, Anna M. Rosická, a PhD candidate at Trinity’s School of Psychology said: “We know that dementia is often preceded by both objective and subjective cognitive impairments, but these two types of impairments have surprisingly little overlap. Our research found that subjective memory impairment has a stronger link to risk factors, including depression, low socio-economic status, hearing impairments, loneliness, and history of smoking.”
“This implies a potentially greater value of subjective cognitive assessments in otherwise healthy adults, as people might become aware of their very early cognitive impairments before these can be objectively measured.”
Professor Claire Gillan, who supervised the study, said the remote nature of smartphone assessments could be particularly useful in detecting early stages of cognitive decline within “low- and middle-income countries” where access to traditional in person cognitive tests may be “limited”.
The study collected data on 13 established dementia risk factors, including hypertension, depression, and hearing impairment, and employed three gamified cognitive tests to measure planning, working memory, and cognitive flexibility.
Because data was collected at a single time point, the findings of the study are limited and researchers recommend a longitudinal analysis to “help exclude alternative explanations and strengthen the case for subjective memory assessments as early indicators of dementia risk”.
