How dominant hand dexterity could help in characterizing different grades of cognitive decline: A motor and cognitive dual‐task study. (7th December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mancioppi, Gianmaria; Fiorini, Laura; Rovini, Erika; Zeghari, Radia; Gros, Auriane; Manera, Valeria; Mouton, Aurelie; Philippe, Robert; Cavallo, Filippo
• Is Part Of: Alzheimer's & dementia. Volume 16(2020)Supplement 11
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2020-12-07
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease -- Periodicals; Alzheimer Disease -- Periodicals; Dementia -- Periodicals; Démence; Maladie d'Alzheimer; Périodique électronique (Descripteur de forme); Ressource Internet (Descripteur de forme); 616.83
• DOI: 10.1002/alz.042645
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1552-5260

Abstract

Abstract: Background: The combined provision of an arising number of dementia cases, and the substantial absence of effective treatments, led the scientific community toward the identification of early phases of this condition. Such an effort aims at the recognition of therapeutic windows and the characterization of the disease's different grades. In the last years, Motor and Cognitive Dual‐Tasks (MCDT) have been widely used to address the early diagnosis of several neurocognitive disorders, among which dementia. Method: In this work, we presented a brand‐new sensor‐based MCDT approach, regarding the upper limb activity: the index‐tapping MCDT (FTAP). We tested this protocol on 30 subjects, among which: 10 Healthy Older Adults (HOA), 10 Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD), and 10 Minor Neurocognitive Disorders (m‐NCD). Result: The preliminary results suggest that the FTAP protocols seem to enlarge the possibility to differentiate among different grades of cognitive decline. The FTAP within‐group analysis revealed a low rate of task saturation if such a task is compared to the gold standard protocols. Furthermore, several motor parameter differs among the aforementioned clinical label (opening and closing velocity, tapping frequency, number of tapping, etcetera), suggesting the possibility to better discriminate among clinical condition. Conclusion: This paper presents a brand‐new application of MCDT, enlarging the literature about the motor‐cognitive interface. Moreover, FTAP protocols, differently from gait analysis, can also be easily applied in neuroimaging studies.