Affiliations: [a] Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
| [b] Wien Center for Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, FL, USA
| [c] Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
Correspondence:
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Correspondence to: Rosie E. Curiel, PsyD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, 1695 NW 9th Avenue, Mental Health Building, Suite 3208G, Miami, FL, 33136, USA. E-email: RCuriel2@miami.edu.
Abstract: Background: Semantic memory interference has been found to be a predictive cognitive marker of incipient AD. This is relevant given that developing assessment paradigms to identify subtle cognitive and functional deficits is a priority in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease research. Objective: To examine the utility of a novel computerized paired associate test in distinguishing between mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and cognitively normal (CN) groups of older adults residing in the community. Methods: Participants that were CN (n = 64) or MCI (n = 34) were administered the Miami Test of Semantic Interference and Learning (MITSI-L). This novel instrument is a brief, computerized paired associate test that measured the strength of memory binding of semantically related word pairs and introduced a proactive semantic interference condition which required participants to make different associations between semantically similar targets. A series of ANOVAs explored differences on MITSI-L performance. Logistic regression and receiver operator curves (ROC) analyses were employed to further determine discriminative validity. Results: MCI participants had lower scores on all indices relative to CN elders. A composite of two subscores correctly classified 85.3% of MCI and 84.4% of CN participants. Area under the ROC was higher relative to the MMSE, immediate memory for passages, and several subtests of a sensitive memory measure, the LASSI-L. Conclusions: The MITSI-L is a computerized test that can successfully differentiate MCI from CN participants. Area under the ROC curve exceeded that of global mental status and other memory measures. The effectiveness of the MITSI-L in detecting MCI, and its brief administration and portability render it worthy of further research.
