NeuroTrack Technologies
Industry: Software-based diagnostic for Alzheimer’s Disease
Neurotrack creates tools for the early detection and prevention of Alzheimer’s. The company’s feature technology is Neurotrack Imprint™, a computer-based visual cognitive test that may help doctors predict Alzheimer’s as early as three to six years before symptoms appear, as demonstrated in a five-year, NIH-funded study. Follow-up studies are in progress at Brown, Harvard and Stanford, and in Shanghai, China.
The cognitive test uses eye-tracking technology while presenting the test subject with a series of both novel and familiar images. While most people tend to focus longer on the unfamiliar pictures, individuals with damage to the hippocampus do not exhibit these eye movements — revealing possible cognitive decline years before any changes to behavior.
Because the test is noninvasive, inexpensive, objective and does not have to be administered in any particular language, it could offer an efficient, affordable way of diagnosing pre-symptomatic patients who are at a risk for cognitive decline. This would enable pharmaceutical companies to develop better medicines targeted at early intervention and help doctors begin diagnosing and treating patients early for much improved outcomes.
As of 2016, a major pharmaceutical company began partnering with Neurotrack to recruit the best participants for drug trials — people at risk of developing Alzheimer’s and who may benefit from early intervention therapies.
In addition to Imprint, Neurotrack is creating a holistic cognitive health program designed to support aspects of a healthy lifestyle, such as exercise, stress reduction, better nutrition, cognitive training and getting enough sleep. Developed in collaboration with three of the world’s leading experts in cognitive decline, the program is supported by research demonstrating that by managing lifestyle-related risk factors, individuals can reduce the risk of cognitive decline.
Company website: NeuroTrack Technologies
