The MemTrax memory test for detecting and assessing cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease

A valid, reliable, accessible measurement for the early detection of cognitive decline in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) is in urgent demand. The objective of the study is to assess the clinical utility of the MemTrax Memory Test in detecting cognitive impairment in patients with PD.

The MemTrax, a fast on-line cognitive screening tool based on continuous recognition task, and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) were administered to 61 healthy controls (HC), 102 PD patients with normal cognition (PD-N), 74 PD patients with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) and 52 PD patients with dementia (PD-D). The total percent correct (MTx- %C), average response time (MTx-RT), composite score (MTx-Cp) of MemTrax and the MoCA scores were comparatively analyzed.

The MoCA scores were similar between HC and PD-N, however, MTx- %C and MTx-Cp were lower in PD-N than HC(p < 0.05). MTx- %C, MTx-Cp and the MoCA scores were significantly lower in PD-MCI versus PD-N and in PD-D versus PD-MCI (p ≤ 0.001), while MTx-RT was statistically longer in PD-D versus PD-MCI (p ≤ 0.001). For PD groups, the MemTrax performance correlated with the MoCA scores. To detect PD-MCI, the optimal MTx- %C and MTx-Cp cutoff were 75 % and 50.0, respectively. To detect PD-D, the optimal MTx- %C, MTx-RT and MTx-Cp cutoff were 69 %, 1.341s and 40.6, respectively.

The MemTrax provides rapid, valid and reliable metrics for assessing cognition in PD patients which could be useful for identifying PD-MCI at early stage and monitoring cognitive function decline during the progression of disease.