Our basic intelligence and mental fitness seems to boil down to numbers – test scores. Scores on exams such as the SAT indicate whether someone is a good candidate for a top-flight school. High scores on IQ tests indicate vast intelligence. But if your scores are low on intelligence tests such as those developed by Cognitive Diagnostics, it may be a sign of cognitive dysfunction.
At least that's what the Southern California-based company claims its software can detect and – in some cases – remedy. The software, ThinkFast, is a collection of quizzes designed to test the brain's adroitness. The tests are based on cognitive chronometrics, a gauge that emphasizes the speed at which subjects arrive at an answer, rather than what subjects know about a topic. For example, a sentence-completion test will be measured for how quickly users finish the statements – an indication of how quickly their brains process information.
But that's not all these tests measure. The company – which is using its Web site to solicit public investment – asserts that these tests can be used to detect problems resulting from slowdowns in synaptical responses. The results can show early signs of dysfunction – even something as complex as Alzheimer's, as the company claimed in a recent press release.
But medical advisors working with the company to test the software backpedaled from that last claim. "Right now, the way you determine whether someone has Alzheimer's is through biopsy or an autopsy. There are lots of factors involved," said Dr. Robert Cockrell, an emergency medicine specialist.
When asked about the claims of detecting cognitive dysfunction and raising test scores – even giving early indications of Alzheimer's - Cockrell offered, "The science isn't all in place. We have mostly anecdotal evidence. We're looking into the science."
The science, chronometric testing, has a serious drawback. "There are high instances of false positives," Cockrell said. These can result from a subject's divided attention at the time of testing. That's why it's best to take the tests several times and throw out the high and low scores to get a more accurate reading, he explained.
Nonetheless, the software can help doctors monitor a patient in therapy for memory loss or cognitive dysfunction – and do so quickly and easily, Cockrell said. So doctors can use the test results as a gauge of whether a particular dosage of a drug or therapy are effective, and whether any adjustments change the person's cognitive capabilities.
Perhaps the biggest benefit that Cognitive Diagnostics can point out about ThinkFast is that it can improve a person's cognitive fitness, a principle that co-inventor Josh Reynolds – the man who introduced the world to the Mood Ring and the ThighMaster – preaches on the company's second Web site, the BrainTainment Center.
This point is not disputed by Cockrell, who noted also that one can keep up mental dexterity by working The New York Times Sunday crossword and solving other puzzles. "A lot of people believe it's like physical fitness – if you don't go to the gym, phffft. The same is true of your brain."
