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Updated: Oct 23, 2025
Dynamic Digital Biomarkers of Motor and Cognitive Function in Parkinson's Disease
Published on: July 24, 2019
Quantitative digital clock drawing test as a sensitive tool to detect subtle cognitive impairments in early stage
Tamara Schejter-Margalit1, Rachel Kizony2, Julia Shirvan3
1Laboratory for Early Markers of Neurodegeneration, Center for the Study of Movement, Cognition and Mobility, Neurology Institute, Tel Aviv Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel; Occupational Therapy Department, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
Introduction:
The prevalence of subtle cognitive decline in the early stages of Parkinson's Disease (PD) is common and is thought to be even greater in patients carrying genetic mutations in the GBA gene. Current cognitive tests often lack sensitivity to identify subtle impairments. Technological advancements may offer greater precision. We explored the utility of a digitized cognitive clock-drawing test to assess cognition in patients with PD compared to healthy controls (HC) and its sensitivity compared to that of standardized neuropsychological tests. Further, we investigated the existence of a cognitive profile based on genotype.
Methods:
The study included 75 early stage PD patients (24 with GBA-PD, 23 LRRK2-PD, 28 idiopathic PD cases) and 59 HC. Participants underwent a cognitive assessment which included the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the Color Trails Test (CTT) and a digital clock drawing test (DCTclock).
Results:
Patients with PD presented lower scores than HC on all cognitive tests. The DCTclock best discriminated PD from HC (AUC: 0.807) compared to the MoCA (0.590) and CTT (0.636 and 0.717 for CTT-1 and CTT-2 respectively). In-depth quantitative analysis of the DCTclock revealed that LRRK2-PD showed better performance than other PD sub-groups.
Conclusion:
The use of quantitative digital cognitive assessment showed greater sensitivity in identifying subtle cognitive decline than the current standardized tests. Differences in cognitive profiles were observed based on genotype. The identification of early cognitive decline may improve the clinical management of PD patients and be useful for cognitive related clinical trials.
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