A quick new brainwave test could help identify early signs of Alzheimer’s long before it is officially diagnosed.
Researchers at the University of Bath and the University of Bristol recently tested a new technology that records electrical activity in the brain while the subject views a series of images. Known as Fastball EEG, the test is designed to recognize signs of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a diagnosis that often precedes Alzheimer’s.
Fastball is a “passive” EEF test, meaning it automatically records the brain’s responses without needing the patient to answer questions or recall information. This feature means the test is less likely to be influenced by factors such as education or anxiety.
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“Fastball is sensitive to both pre-diagnosed Alzheimer’s disease and individuals at very high risk of developing it,” Dr. George Stothart, a cognitive neuroscientist in the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath, said to Fox News Digital.
“Importantly, EEG data collection for Fastball is entirely feasible in people’s homes, making it a practical tool for real-world use.”
The study tested the memory skills of 53 patients with MCI and 54 healthy older adults with the new tool. One year later, the participants were re-tested.
The people with MCI were found to have “significantly reduced” memory-linked brain responses compared to the healthy group.
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“We were pleasantly surprised by the test-retest reliability in healthy older adults,” Stothart said. “In the one-year follow-up, measurements remained stable, indicating that for healthy older adults, Fastball provides consistent results over time.”
The Dallas Express previously reported on a study published in Nature that theorized that low lithium levels in the brains of people living with Alzheimer’s and MCI could reveal a new way for treating the conditions. The researchers also discovered that lithium orotate was able to reverse memory loss in mice that possessed Alzheimer’s-like symptoms.