Use of cranial nerves’ II, III, IV and VI performance as an early warning signal of cognitive decline due to dementia

M. Zarreii
Axon Medical Technologies, LLC,
United States

Keywords: autonomic nervous system, sympathetic, parasympathetic, dementia, Alzheimer’s, objective, subjective, axon, neuron, cranial nerve, pupil, cognitive decline

Summary:

The purpose of this abstract is to discuss that objective measurement of autonomic nervous system (ANS) performance can identify the start of cognitive decline due to dementia sooner than current subjective testing methods. Timely identification of cognitive decline can lead to early treatments that can improve patient quality of life. A human brain has 100 billion brain cells or neurons at birth. As we age, adults typically lose approximately 9,000 neurons per day after the age of 20. The early symptoms of dementia occur when axons—the calculation and transmission part of neurons—begin to atrophy. The progression of disease can accelerate neuron loss to exceed 300,000 per day. Neuron atrophy can begin as early as 18 years before diagnosis, since billions of neurons must be lost before a person exhibits symptoms that current subjective tests can detect. By then, too many neurons have been lost, and cannot be regenerated. The paper intends to address methods that detect neuron loss effects prior to symptom development. The paper will discuss the use of Intellig-EYES™, an objective data collection device, to measure 140 parameters of sympathetic and parasympathetic ANS related to cranial nerves’ II, III, IV, and VI performance of patients. Intellig-EYES is part of an enhanced cognitive assessment technology (ECAT™) platform that includes both the objective Intellig-EYES assessment as well as subjective cognitive assessments such as mini-mental state exam (MMSE) and the general practitioner assessment of cognition (GPCOG).