Cognitive Test

Nowadays, the cognitive abilities of the two presidential candidates for the coming presidential election slated in Nov. in the US get more attention from not only  politicians but also voters.

In accordance with “Aging and the Presidency” provided by PBS news hour, the newest survey says that given the current campaign, more than half of the voters concern about the political future. 

During the above turmoil among the public,  other than neurological disease itself as mentioned above, how to measure cognitive abilities is also becoming on the table.

Speaking of the cognitive test, from the perspective of Japanese experts including physicians, nurses, lawyers, and courts,  anyone would assume that HDS-R or MMSE is the most applicable way.

On the other hand, in the US, it is evaluated that the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is the most useful tool to detect such disease as Alzheimer’s disease.
Among other things, above assessment has some essential components which MMSE cannot measure. 
To put it another way, MoCA covers broader elements in order to check the very early cognitive impairment.

To my knowledge, compared with HDS-R or MMSE,  MoCA is not so spread among legal or medical fields. Nonetheless, as MoCA contributes to assessment related to persons with Parkinson disease who are declining cognitive abilities as time passes, I hope that this would be utilized actively as the same as other screening test near the future.