Expanding on the Cognitive Stress Test and Answering Cognitive Deficit Questions: Rosie Curiel, PsyD

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The associate professor of neuropsychology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine discussed the next steps in using the Cognitive Stress Test and the remaining questions from recent findings. [WATCH TIME: 4 minutes]

WATCH TIME: 4 minutes

"The Cognitive Stress Test does not cause stress or distress, but it does stress the cognitive system enough for you to pick up on early deficits. We’re doing much more of a deep dive on semantic intrusion errors by way of measuring semantic inhibitory control."

Recently, at the 2022 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC), July 31 to August 4, in San Diego, California, a group of investigators presented on the Cognitive Stress Test (CST), an innovative tool designed to differentiate cognitive unimpaired (CU) older adults from those with pre-mild cognitive impairment (pre-MCI) and amnestic MCI (aMCI). The tool requires individuals to learn a list of 18 semantically similar words, and directly assesses a patient’s ability to recover from retroactive semantic interference.

There were several notable take-home points, including a higher percentage of intrusion errors in the aMCI group, which confirmed significant difficulties with inhibition, source memory, and monitoring. Additionally, the findings represented the first data that older adults with aMCI and pre-MCI have deficits related to their ability to recover from proactive semantic interference despite repeated opportunities to learn. The study investigators, which included Rosie Curiel, PsyD, concluded that the tool and data need to be validated in a larger sample that includes biomarker data to correlate with the results.

To learn more about the future plans for this research, Curiel sat down with NeurologyLive^®. An associate professor of neuropsychology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Curiel discussed the unanswered questions from this project, and the ways the tool can be validated even further. Additionally, she stressed the need to assess this approach in racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds.

Click here for more coverage of AAIC 2022.