In an interview with Chris Wallace of Fox News that was filmed on Friday, July 17 and aired over the weekend, President Donald Trump boasted of his performance on a cognitive test and challenged former Vice President Joe Biden, the alleged candidate. Democratic presidential, to take the same test. Trump insisted that parts of the test were quite difficult, but according to the doctor who developed the test, it should be easy.
Developed by Dr. Ziad Nasreddine in 1996, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment or MoCA test is designed to detect early signs of Alzheimer’s or dementia. Wallace, during his interview with Trump, reminded the President that MoCA “was not the most difficult test” and wrote down some of the questions. But Trump disagreed, insisting that parts of MoCA were, in fact, challenging and urged Biden to “take a test right now.”
In an interview with Market Watch, Nasreddine confirmed that he did not intend for MoCA to be difficult. Nasreddine told Market Watch: “This is not an IQ test or the level of how extremely proficient a person is or is not. The test is supposed to help doctors detect the first signs of Alzheimer’s, and it was done very popular because it was a short test: and very sensitive for early deterioration. “
Nasreddine discussed some of the questions with Market Watch, including one in which the test taker is asked to draw an analog clock and describe a specific time, explaining: “You need planning and executive function and spatial skills to space the numbers in the register correctly … There are ‘traps’ into which cognitively impaired patients fall for this test. “
Other examples of MoCA questions, according to Nicole Lyn Pesce of Market Watch, can range from the person being asked to describe the similarities between a clock and a ruler or being asked to identify some of the animals depicted in the illustrations.
Pesce notes that Nasreddine and his “colleagues are increasingly concerned that the test is no longer as accurate, because too many elements have been shared online. This allows people to practice the questions to perform better on the exam.”
Nasreddine told Market Watch that if someone does poorly with MoCA, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the person has early-onset Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia. However, Nasreddine noted that MoCA “is supposed to be easy for someone who doesn’t have cognitive decline.”
“The purpose is to detect deterioration,” Nasreddine explained. “It is not intended to determine if someone has extremely high levels of ability.”
