Computerised cognitive testing of individuals with Down's syndrome and Alzheimer's disease.
BACKGROUND
Although Alzheimer's disease neuropathology is present by age 40 years, in Down's syndrome, ante-mortem diagnosis is difficult. No standard for cognitive assessment is well established or easy to administer.


METHOD
We used a simple, widely available computerised test (NeuroTrax Moderate to Severe Impairment Assessment Battery, Mindstreams, Newark, NJ) to evaluate 14 patients in this population. Orientation, memory, executive function, verbal function and visual spatial function were evaluated every 6 months for 18 months.


RESULTS
Mean scaled scores in this longitudinal study were evaluated with repeated measures analysis of variance. Memory, executive function, verbal function and visual spatial function scores did not significantly change. There was no significant depression or anxiety on self-reported measures.


CONCLUSIONS
Reproducibility of test results supports the reliability of this battery to quantify function and prospectively follow performance in this population over an 18-month period.
['Gutman|Michael|M|', 'Moskovic|Ethan|E|', 'Jeret|Joseph S|JS|']
D000328:Adult D000544:Alzheimer Disease D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted D004314:Down Syndrome D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008137:Longitudinal Studies D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009483:Neuropsychological Tests D015203:Reproducibility of Results
Down's syndrome Alzheimer's disease computerised testing intellectual disability