Computerised cognitive testing of individuals with Down's syndrome and Alzheimer's disease

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.

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.

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.

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.