Associations of visual paired associative learning task with global cognition and its potential usefulness as a screening tool for Alzheimer's Dementia

Objective: Appropriate screening is integral to the early diagnosis and management of Alzheimer's Dementia (AD). The Paired Associates Learning (PAL) task is a digital cognitive task that is free of cultural, language, and educational biases. This study examined the association between the PAL task performance and global cognition and the usefulness of the PAL task as a screening tool for AD. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Academic hospital. Methods: Twenty-five participants with AD and 22 healthy comparators (HC) were included. The Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery PAL task and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) were used to assess cognition. We assessed the relationship between the PAL task and MoCA performance using Pearson correlation and linear regression. We also examined the PAL task's ability to distinguish between AD and HC participants using Receiver Operating Characteristic curve (ROC) analysis. Measurements: MoCA Total Score had a strong positive correlation with PAL Stages Completed score (r = 0.8, p < 0.001), and a strong negative correlation with PAL Total Errors (adjusted) score (r = -0.9, p < 0.001). Further, PAL Total Errors (adjusted) score predicted the MoCA Total Score (F (4, 46) = 37.2, p < 0.001). On ROC analysis, PAL Total Errors (adjusted) score cut-off of 54 errors had 92% sensitivity and 86% specificity to detect AD. Conclusions: Performance on the PAL task is highly associated with global cognition. Further, the PAL task can differentiate patients with AD from HCs with high sensitivity and specificity. Thus, the PAL task may hold potential usage as an easy-to-administer screening tool for AD.

Automated summary

The study found a strong association between performance on the PAL task and global cognition, with the PAL task showing high sensitivity and specificity in differentiating patients with Alzheimer's Dementia from healthy comparators. This suggests that the PAL task may serve as a valuable screening tool for AD.