How a person rates their own memory is more strongly associated with dementia risk factors than their performance in standard cognitive tests, according to new research from Trinity College Dublin.
The study, conducted by neuroscientists at Trinity’s School of Psychology, gathered data from 3,327 people through a smartphone app to investigate how well-known risk factors for dementia, such as hypertension or loneliness, are linked to reduced cognitive abilities.
They found, for the first time, that a person's subjective impression of their own memory problems had stronger links to modifiable riskfactors for dementia than their performance on objective standardised tests measuring cognitive impairments.
The research adds to our understanding of very early changes to brain health in otherwise healthy adults and highlights the value of subjective cognitive assessments in healthy adults.
Unlike most prior studies, cognitive ability was assessed in two ways – using standardised cognitive tests and by simply asking people to report on their own memory problems.
The research was published in Alzheimer's & Dementia, The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.