For the first time in Portugal, a multidisciplinary team from the University of Coimbra (UC) applied, in a clinical context, a memory test developed in the USA that allows to verify whether people with Mild Cognitive Deficit (MCD) – a pathology very associated with the transition period between the normal aging and dementia – are at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, the most common dementia in the elderly population.
Before being experimented on patients with MCD (100) and Alzheimer's disease (70), followed in the dementia consultation, coordinated by the neurologist Isabel Santana, from the University and Hospital Center of Coimbra (CHUC), and also in a control group (people The Free and Guided Selective Recall Test (TRSLG), developed in the 80s by the American specialist Buschke, was adapted for the Portuguese population by researchers from the Faculties of Psychology (FPCEUC), Medicine (FMUC) and Letters (FLUC) of the University of Coimbra (UC).
The results of the study funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) revealed “sensitivity and high precision in differentiating between patients with MCL at higher risk of developing Alzheimer's and those who will only maintain impaired memory. Later, we correlated the information obtained in the Test with the APOE 4 allele (a genetic marker associated with Alzheimer's disease) and confirmed our conclusions», explains Raquel Lemos, first author of the scientific article just published in the British Journal of Neuropsychology.
Considering the complexity of Alzheimer's Disease, the Test «shows to be a useful tool in the early diagnosis of this dementia. The information provided by TRSLG, on predicting whether an individual with MCI may or may not develop Alzheimer's, allows clinicians to be guided in the adoption of prophylactic and therapeutic measures”, highlights the researcher from the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at UC.
The TRSLG, a neuropsychological assessment instrument recommended by the International Working Group on Alzheimer's Disease (International Working Group on Alzheimer's Disease) and already used in several European countries, focuses on the use of a new paradigm in memory assessment because it admits a measure of memory not to be confused with that of normal aging, by controlling the conditions of learning and evocation through semantic coding, using semantic categories, such as professions or musical instruments.
Author: Cristina Pinto (Press Office – University of Coimbra)
Science in the Regional Press – Ciência Viva
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