Background: Moderate alcohol drinking is suggested to be beneficial for cognitive functions, but the results of previous studies have varied greatly. Little is known about the effects of midlife ...alcohol drinking on the cognitive functions later in life. Methods: Participants were derived from random, population-based samples studied in Eastern Finland in 1972, 1977, 1982, or 1987. A total of 1,341 participants were reexamined in 1998, after an average follow-up period of 21 years, at ages 65–79 years. Results: The participants who did not drink alcohol at midlife had a poorer performance in episodic memory, psychomotor speed, and executive function in late life as compared with infrequent and frequent drinkers, adjusted for sociodemographic and vascular factors. Also late-life nondrinkers had poorer psychomotor speed and executive function. These findings were evident especially among nonsmokers. Further, no interactions between apolipoprotein E4 and alcohol or sex and alcohol were found. Conclusions: Alcohol drinking both at midlife and later is favorably related to the function in several cognitive domains, including episodic memory, psychomotor speed, and executive function, in late life. However, it is not clear whether the association is causal, what is the possible mechanism, and what would be a safe limit of drinking for the best cognitive function.
Introduction
Web‐based cognitive tests have potential for standardized screening in neurodegenerative disorders. We examined accuracy and consistency of cCOG, a computerized cognitive tool, in ...detecting mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia.
Methods
Clinical data of 306 cognitively normal, 120 mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 69 dementia subjects from three European cohorts were analyzed. Global cognitive score was defined from standard neuropsychological tests and compared to the corresponding estimated score from the cCOG tool containing seven subtasks. The consistency of cCOG was assessed comparing measurements administered in clinical settings and in the home environment.
Results
cCOG produced accuracies (receiver operating characteristic‐area under the curve ROC‐AUC) between 0.71 and 0.84 in detecting MCI and 0.86 and 0.94 in detecting dementia when administered at the clinic and at home. The accuracy was comparable to the results of standard neuropsychological tests (AUC 0.69–0.77 MCI/0.91–0.92 dementia).
Discussion
cCOG provides a promising tool for detecting MCI and dementia with potential for a cost‐effective approach including home‐based cognitive assessments.
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![[P1–009]: DETECTING COGNITI...](http://api.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/image/issn/XR4PS5YY4K/1552-5260/small "[P1–009]: DETECTING COGNITIVE DISORDERS USING THE MUISTIKKO WEB‐BASED COGNITIVE TEST BATTERY: VALIDATION IN THREE COHORTS")
