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INTRODUCTION: Finding low‐cost methods to detect early‐stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a research priority for neuroprotective drug development. Presymptomatic Alzheimer's is associated with gait impairment but hand motor tests, which are more accessible, have hardly been investigated. This study evaluated how home‐based Tasmanian (TAS) Test keyboard tapping tests predict episodic memory performance. METHODS: 1169 community participants (65.8 ± 7.4 years old; 73% female) without cognitive symptoms completed online single‐key and alternate‐key tapping tests and episodic memory, working memory, and executive function cognitive tests. RESULTS: All single‐key (R2adj = 8.8%, ΔAIC = 5.2) and alternate‐key (R2adj = 9.1%, ΔAIC = 8.8) motor features predicted episodic memory performance relative to demographic and mood confounders only (R2adj = 8.1%). No tapping features improved estimation of working memory. DISCUSSION: Brief self‐administered online hand movement tests predict asymptomatic episodic memory impairment. This provides a potential low‐cost home‐based method for stratification of enriched cohorts. Highlights: We devised two brief online keyboard tapping tests to assess hand motor function.1169 cognitively asymptomatic adults completed motor‐ and cognitive tests online.Impaired hand motor function predicted reduced episodic memory performance.This brief self‐administered test may aid stratification of community cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: Low‐cost simple tests for preclinical Alzheimer's disease are a research priority. We evaluated whether remote unsupervised webcam recordings of finger‐tapping were associated with cognitive performance in older adults. METHODS: A total of 404 cognitively‐asymptomatic participants (64.6 [6.77] years; 70.8% female) completed 10‐second finger‐tapping tests (Tasmanian [TAS] Test) and cognitive tests (Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery [CANTAB]) online at home. Regression models including hand movement features were compared with null models (comprising age, sex, and education level); change in Akaike Information Criterion greater than 2 (ΔAIC > 2) denoted statistical difference. RESULTS: Hand movement features improved prediction of episodic memory, executive function, and working memory scores (ΔAIC > 2). Dominant hand features outperformed nondominant hand features for episodic memory (ΔAIC = 2.5), executive function (ΔAIC = 4.8), and working memory (ΔAIC = 2.2). DISCUSSION: This brief webcam test improved prediction of cognitive performance compared to age, sex, and education. Finger‐tapping holds potential as a remote language‐agnostic screening tool to stratify community cohorts at risk for cognitive decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Neurofilament light (NfL) is a blood biomarker of neurodegeneration. While serum NfL levels have been demonstrated to increase with normal ageing, the relationship between serum NfL levels and normal age-related changes in cognitive functions is less well understood. Methods: The current study investigated whether cross-sectional serum NfL levels measured by single molecule array technology (Simoa®) mediated the effect of age on cognition, measured by a battery of neuropsychological tests administered biannually for 8 years, in a cohort of 174 unimpaired older adults (=50 years) from the Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project. Mediation analysis was conducted using latent variables representing cognitive test performance on three cognitive domains - episodic memory, executive function, and language (vocabulary, comprehension, naming). Cognitive test scores for the three domains were estimated for each participant, coincident with blood collection in 2018 using linear Bayesian hierarchical models. Results: Higher serum NfL levels were significantly positively associated with age (p < 0.001 for all domains). Cognitive test scores were significantly negatively associated with age across the domains of executive function (p < 0.001), episodic memory (p < 0.001) and language (p < 0.05). However, serum NfL levels did not significantly mediate the relationship between age and cognitive test scores across any of the domains. Discussion: This study adds to the literature on the relationship between serum NfL levels and cognition in unimpaired older adults and suggests that serum NfL is not a pre-clinical biomarker of ensuing cognitive decline in unimpaired older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]