New ResearchKit app launches to study relationship between lifestyle and Alzheimer’s

MindShare app

A team of researchers has teamed up with BrainBaseline, which helps companies develop and run custom cognitive studies, to launch a ResearchKit-based study called Mind Share.

The study is a group effort by researchers from a number of universities, including the University of Nebraska, University of Michigan, Vanderbilt, Northeastern, and Wake Forest University.

Mind Share aims to assess how factors — such as lifestyle, medical history, and behavior — affect cognitive function in people with Alzheimer’s disease. The app will gather data using BrainBaseline questionnaires to track cognitive function, and show users how they scored against others taking the same test. Study participants will also be able to track their progress over time.

Researchers on their end hope to use the data gathered to create a screening tool for people with Alzheimer’s.

Beyond those suffering from Alzheimer’s, the study is also open to people who have not been diagnosed with any another form of dementia, as well as people who have difficulty reading or writing in English.

Apple launched the ResearchKit platform in March 2014, and has since managed to around 20 institutions and companies to use it.

[Via: mobihealthnews]