Validity of a novel computerized cognitive battery for mild cognitive impairment

Abstract

BackgroundThe NeuroTrax Mindstreams computerized cognitive assessment system was designed for widespread clinical and research use in detecting mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, the capability of Mindstreams tests to discriminate elderly with MCI from those who are cognitively healthy has yet to be evaluated. Moreover, the comparability between these tests and traditional neuropsychological tests in detecting MCI has not been examined.MethodsA 2-center study was designed to assess discriminant validity of tests in the Mindstreams Mild Impairment Battery. Participants were 30 individuals diagnosed with MCI, 29 with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 39 healthy elderly. Testing was with the Mindstreams battery and traditional neuropsychological tests. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to examine the ability of Mindstreams and traditional measures to discriminate those with MCI from cognitively healthy elderly. Between-group comparisons were made (Mann-Whitney U test) between MCI and healthy elderly and between MCI and mild AD groups.ResultsMindstreams outcome parameters across multiple cognitive domains significantly discriminated among MCI and healthy elderly with considerable effect sizes (p < 0.05). Measures of memory, executive function, visual spatial skills, and verbal fluency discriminated best, and discriminability was at least comparable to that of traditional neuropsychological tests in these domains.ConclusionsMindstreams tests are effective in detecting MCI, providing a comprehensive profile of cognitive function. Further, the enhanced precision and ease of use of these computerized tests make the NeuroTrax system a valuable clinical tool in the identification of elderly at high risk for dementia.

Cognitive Dysfunction: Part and Parcel of the Diabetic Foot

“…The NeuroTrax computerized cognitive assessment battery of tests contains a set of tests designed for early detection of mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia. It also has the capacity to discriminate between cognitively intact individuals with moderate to good correlations demonstrated with the well-validated Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale battery of tests (11). Good convergent construct validity has been shown between this battery of tests and traditional neuropsychological tests designed to tap similar cognitive domains.…”

Automated tests for diagnosing and monitoring cognitive impairment: a diagnostic accuracy review

“…The risk-of-bias criterion for patient selection was high for seven studies, 71,72,[74][75][76]81,83 unclear for one study 86 and low for eight studies. [68][69][70][77][78][79][80]85 The studies were judged to be at high risk for this criterion because a case-control study design was used.…”

“…Five studies reported results for more than two groups of participants: three included healthy controls, MCI and early dementia, 71,76,86 and two included healthy controls, early dementia and early dementia/MCI combined. 70,74 In total, 10 studies 68,69,71,72,75,76,78,79,85,86 evaluated the use of automated computerised tests to detect MCI alone, seven studies 70,71,74,76,80,81,86 reported results for early dementia, three studies 70,74,77 reported results for combined MCI/early dementia and one study 83 reported results for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND).…”

“…[68][69][70][77][78][79][80]85 The studies were judged to be at high risk for this criterion because a case-control study design was used. Regarding the index test criteria for risk of bias, seven studies 70,71,74,76,78,83,85 were judged to be at unclear risk. In these studies, the threshold values for the index tests were not pre-specified.…”

Computerized Finger Tapping Task in Adult Unipolar Depressed Patients and Healthy Subjects: Influence of Age, Gender, Education, and Hand Dominance

“…The FTT was developed as part of the Halstead-Reitan Battery (Halstead, 1947) and consists in a test of fine psychomotor performance, measured through self-directed manual motor speed and control (Christianson & Leathem, 2004;Strauss, Sherman, & Spreen, 2006), recurrently employed to assess impairment resulting from traumas, diseases, and other clinical conditions, such as brain injury (Arnold et al, 2005;Hubel, Yund, Herron, & Woods, 2013a;Kane, Roebuck-Spencer, Short, Kabat, & Wilken, 2007), Alzheimer's disease (Arnold et al, 2005;Dwolatzky et al, 2003Dwolatzky et al, , 2004Kane et al, 2007), Parkinson's disease Shimoyama, Ninchoji, & Uemura, 1990), multiple sclerosis Wilken et al, 2003), mild cognitive impairment (Dwolatzky et al, , 2004, and mental retardation (Arnold et al, 2005).…”