Relationship between reaction time variability on go/no go tasks and neuropsychological functioning in younger and
Naotoshi Kimura1, Daisuke Hirano2,3, Hana Yano2
1Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health Sciences at Narita, International University of Health and Welfare, Chiba, Japan.
Introduction:
Early detection of cognitive impairment in older adults is important for the prevention of dementia. Intra-individual variability in reaction time (IIV-RT) during go/no-go tasks can be used for the early detection of cognitive impairment in older adults living in the community. This study aimed to determine the relationship between IIV-RT and cognitive function during go/no-go tasks and the cutoff values for determining the risk of cognitive impairment in community-dwelling older adults.
Methods:
This study included 31 older adults without cognitive impairment, 15 community-dwelling older adults with cognitive impairment, and 34 healthy young adults. All participants performed a go/no-go task to assess the IIV-RT. Additionally, older adults underwent neuropsychological testing. Based on the results of the Japanese version of the Montreal Test of Cognitive Abilities (MoCA-J), older adults were divided into those with normal cognition and those with cognitive impairment.
Results:
There were significant differences in the IIV-RT among groups, including a higher IIV in the cognitively impaired group than in young adults and cognitively normal older adults. Moreover, the IIV-RT was correlated with the MoCA-J (r = -0.531, p < 0.001), Trail Making Test Part A (r = 0.571, p < 0.001), and Verbal Fluency Test scores (r = -0.442, p = 0.002). Receiver operating curve analysis showed that the area under the curve for IIV-RT was 0.935, and the cutoff value at which the IIV-RT identified cognitive impairment was 25.37%.
Conclusions:
These findings indicate that the IIV-RT during go/no-go tasks is a useful early indicator of cognitive impairment in community-dwelling older adults.
