Shifting Alzheimer Detection Upstream Using Digital Cognitive Assessments: John Showalter, MD, MSIS

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"We also have a number of posters about our digital assessment of cognition, which is a combination of a list learning test, a semantic fluency test, as well as a backward digit span. But we’re not just looking at the output of those tests, but actually the process measures that allow us to cluster people into MCI, dementia, or cognitively unimpaired.”

At the recently concluded 18th Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) Conference, held December 1-4, 2025, in San Diego, California, Linus Health presented a bevy of new data evaluating its digital tools for the early identification of cognitive impairment and assessment of clinical trial readiness.¹ Three of these posters reported findings related to the electronic Person-Specific Outcome Measure, a tool designed to capture outcomes that patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) identify as personally meaningful. Furthermore, two additional posters examined the performance of the Digital Clock and Recall and Digital Assessment of Cognition tools, assessing their abilities to detect AD risk and support determinations of treatment eligibility.

In addition to these poster presentations, Linus Health published a study in Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy in which findings showed that company’s tablet-based DCR assessment can, in 3 minutes, accurately detect cognitive impairment and estimate amyloid positivity.² All in all, the findings suggested that brief digital cognitive assessments may support earlier identification of AD–related cognitive changes. Furthermore, the research highlighted that these tools could be integrated into routine clinical workflows to facilitate scalable brain health screening among individuals at risk for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia.

At CTAD 2025, John Showalter, MD, MSIS, chief operating officer at Linus Health, spoke with NeurologyLive^® to discuss the company’s poster presentations from the meeting and their clinical significance. Throughout the interview, he described a patient-centered digital outcome measure designed to personalize lifestyle feedback, as well as a brief cognitive battery capable of classifying individuals as cognitively unimpaired, having MCI, or dementia. In the discussion, Showalter emphasized the clinical implications of integrating these tools into routine care and community screening, potentially enabling earlier identification, streamlined workflows, and earlier entry into treatment pathways, particularly as blood-based biomarkers become more widely available.

Click here to view more coverage of CTAD 2025.

REFERENCES
1. Linus Health Highlights AI-Enabled Solutions Advancing Early Alzheimer's Detection and Clinical Trial Readiness at CTAD 2025. News release. Linus Health. November 18, 2025. Accessed January 19, 2026. https://linushealth.com/press-releases/linus-health-highlights-ai-enabled-solutions-advancing-early-alzheimers-detection-and-clinical-trial-readiness-at-ctad-2025
2. Jannati A, Thompson K, Toro-Serey C, et al. Concurrent detection of cognitive impairment and amyloid positivity with a multimodal machine learning-enabled digital cognitive assessment. Alzheimers Res Ther. 2025;17(1):261. Published 2025 Dec 11. doi:10.1186/s13195-025-01913-5