Subjective Cognitive Decline and Antisaccade Latency: Exploring Early Markers of Dementia Risk

Journal article

Background/Objectives: Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is a common symptom experienced by individuals in the preclinical stage of dementia. However, traditional neuropsychological tests often fail to detect subtle cognitive changes associated with SCD. People with SCD may appear to have intact cognitive function (as measured by traditional tests), but they themselves subjectively feel that their cognition is becoming impaired. Methods: This preliminary study investigated the relationship between SCD and antisaccade performance as a potential early marker of dementia risk in a community-based sample of older adults (N = 17, mean age = 77.71 years). SCD was also explored by calculating the dissociation between objective and subjective memory performance, with SCD implied if there was a large dissociation between perceived memory performance but intact objective performance. Results: Participants with evidence of SCD exhibited significantly increased antisaccade latency compared to healthy controls, even when standard cognitive tests were normal. Antisaccade latency showed a significant correlation with self-reported cognitive complaints (r = 0.57, p = 0.018), while traditional cognitive measures did not. Conclusions: These compelling but preliminary findings suggest that antisaccade performance may be a more sensitive indicator of early cognitive decline than traditional cognitive measures, even in the preclinical stage of dementia. The results have implications for early dementia diagnosis, as antisaccade tasks could be incorporated into routine assessments to identify individuals at risk for dementia, potentially enabling earlier therapeutic intervention.

Authors: Wilcockson, TDW; Begde, A; Hogervorst, E

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: MDPI
• Journal: Journal of Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease
• Volume: 2
• Issue: 2
• Article number: 16
• Publication date: 2025-06-01
• Acceptance date: 2025-05-15
• DOI: 10.3390/jdad2020016
• EISSN: 3042-4518
• Language: English
• Keywords: prosaccade task; antisaccade task; subjective cognitive disorder; mild cognitive impairment