A groundbreaking three-minute test developed by Dr. George Stothart at the University of Bath aims to identify individuals at greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. This promising new test—widely referred to as the “Fastball test”—hinges on cutting-edge electroencephalogram (EEG) technology. It records brain electrical activity and helps ensure early diagnosis and intervention.
Participants’ brain activity is recorded with small sensors placed along the scalp in the Fastball test. Participants listen to words as they view a series of images on a computer screen during the test. At the test, each image appears on screen for just a third of a second. Each fifth picture is one of the eight that we previously demonstrated to the workers in training. Prior to the start of the test, respondents are shown eight pictures. They have to label the pictures, but they’re not instructed to memorize or identify them in the context of the real test.
As our volunteers watch hundreds of these images flash on screen, this test records their brain’s response. Most impressively, it is able to identify cognitive declines associated with Alzheimer’s disease, well before people usually receive an official diagnosis. It’s the early detection capacity that yields the most hope. The Fastball test might be able to help identify people who stand to gain the most from exciting new Alzheimer’s drugs such as donanemab and lecanemab.
George Stothart, CEO at EISAI elucidated his hope that the test would be a game-changer in Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
“This shows us that our new passive measure of memory, which we’ve built specifically for Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, can be sensitive to those individuals at very high risk but who are not yet diagnosed.” – Dr George Stothart
Dr. Julia Dudley reiterated the need to focus on early detection for Alzheimer’s disease. She underscored the importance of this working in concert with emerging treatments.
“It’s encouraging to see studies exploring potential ways to detect memory problems earlier. New Alzheimer’s treatments are proving to be more effective when given at earlier stages in the disease, therefore earlier diagnosis is key for people to benefit from this.” – Dr Julia Dudley
The creation of the Fastball test is a timely process to say the least. Right now, researchers are trying to find ways to detect Alzheimer’s disease sooner and in more preclinical stages. The capability to accurately identify those most at-risk might result in better targeting of treatment strategies and ultimately the most beneficial impact on patient outcomes.
Even with those promising results, experts are warning that larger studies are needed to validate the strong results seen in the first trials. More study will be needed to confirm the test’s accuracy and decide best how it can be adopted into existing diagnostic workflows.