York University researchers say a simple test that combines thinking and movement can help to detect a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer's disease long before telltale symptoms emerge.

In a study of the test, published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, the researchers determined that a notable decline in daily functioning is related to alterations in activity in certain regions of the brain that are associated with Alzheimer's disease, Medical Xpress reports. 
 

For the study, lead researcher Lauren Sergio  asked a group of individuals to complete four increasingly demanding visual-spatial and cognitive-motor tasks, on dual screen laptop computers. The test aimed at detecting the tendency for Alzheimer's in those who were having cognitive difficulty even though they were not showing outward signs of the disease.
 

"We included a task which involved moving a computer mouse in the opposite direction of a visual target on the screen, requiring the person's brain to think before and during their hand movements," said Sergio. "This is where we found the most pronounced difference between those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and family history group and [healthy individuals]."
 

The findings don't necessarily predict who will develop Alzheimer's disease, but they do show there is something different in the brains of most of the participants diagnosed with MCI or who had a family history of the disease.