Real-time monitoring shows how daily habits influence cognitive performance in older adults

New research using smartwatches shows that older adults can accurately assess how well they are thinking in the moment. The study finds their self-ratings closely match actual cognitive performance.

"Our goal is to understand how people perceive their cognition, or ability to think, and how that compares with how they actually perform using objective test measures," said UC Davis Health neuropsychologist Sarah Tomaszewski Farias, senior author on the paper. Tomaszewski Farias is a professor in the Department of Neurology, director of the UC Davis California Alzheimer's Center of Excellence and the clinical core leader of the National Institutes of Health-funded UC Davis Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.

We found that people's moment-to-moment impressions of their cognitive abilities were closely aligned with their actual performance. This could help lead to possible earlier detection of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's risk than standard cognitive testing."

The study followed 162 older adults, with an average age of around 72. They all had concerns about memory or cognitive changes but scored within normal limits on standard cognitive tests prior to the study.