Unlocking the Power of Digital Health Metrics & Wearable Devices to Assess

Brain Health Research study finds consumer devices can be used to assess brain health and recognizes that the ability to detect changes earlier may empower individuals to take action and prevent decline

(Richmond, VA) With the rise of wearable technology, healthcare providers now have an unprecedented opportunity to leverage real-time digital health metrics to improve early detection and intervention for changes in cognitive health. This technology is shaping how individuals track and report vital health indicators—such as sleep patterns, heart rate variability, physical activity, and stress levels—offering valuable insights to clinicians that can help identify subtle shifts in cognitive function.

Fifty-five million individuals worldwide suffer from dementia. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias being the leading causes, with numbers expected to triple by 2050. Early education and detection of cognitive changes empower individuals to enact lifestyle modifications and initiate pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic approaches to slow or prevent decline. In fact, up to 45% of global dementia cases could be prevented or delayed through targeted lifestyle changes and risk factor management, according to the 2024 Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention and care. This highlights how individuals can be empowered to protect and improve their brain health through proactive measures.

A new study in the journal Nature Medicine has found widely used consumer grade digital devices, such as the iPhone and Apple Watch, can be effective in assessing an individual’s cognitive health without requiring in-person visits or supervision. This is the largest cognition study of its kind to demonstrate that self-administered cognitive assessments can be leveraged to accurately assess cognitive health over time.

“This ground-breaking study simultaneously addressed barriers to research participation like transportation and accessibility as evidenced by the diverse demographics represented in the study,” says co-author Pamela Price, Director of the Brain Health Center for African Americans and Deputy Director of The Balm In Gilead, one of the contributors on the study. “Research findings from this study highlight the value of decentralized research studies and have the potential to revolutionize how conditions such as dementia, are assessed, shifting the healthcare paradigm from reactive to proactive.”

The researchers enrolled more than 23,000 adults across the U.S. who owned an iPhone. Enrollment was broad and included individuals who consented to sharing their data, from 21-86 years of age and spanned cognitively healthy to diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment.

Of the participants enrolled, over 90% were able to adhere to the study protocol for at least one year, which included using their iPhone and wearing their Apple Watch on a daily basis, as well as taking cognitive assessments on their own and completing questionnaires on a monthly and quarterly basis.

Researchers found that self-administered digital cognitive assessments were reliable and clinically valid across the broad populations enrolled. The ability to accurately measure cognitive health remotely could be the first step in providing individuals with the information they need to take action on their brain health.

Other contributors on this study included researchers from the Intuition Study Scientific Committee; Mass General Brigham; Harvard Medical School; Banner Alzheimer’s Institute; University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing; Stanford School of Medicine; Penn State University and the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. The study was sponsored by Biogen in collaboration with Apple.

Media Contact:
Jasmine Roberts Duncan
jduncan@balmingilead.org
757-816-8916