People who make ‘microerrors’ while carrying out everyday tasks like making a cup of tea could be showing early signs of dementia, researchers said.
Small errors like checking several times whether the teabag is in the cup or going back to the fridge when the milk is already out are things that show the brain’s processing ability is fading.
Although most people process tasks more inefficiently as they age, experts said families should be aware that making lots of little mistakes could be a sign someone is at a higher risk of developing dementia in the future.
People who make ‘microerrors’ while carrying out everyday tasks like making a cup of tea could be showing early signs of dementia, researchers said
Dr Tania Giovannetti, co-author of the study, said: ‘Early on, we can look at very subtle errors called ‘micorerrors’.
‘When we compare healthy agers to young people, there are more microerrors in healthy older adults than young adults, and they’re associated with memory problems and cognitive changes.
‘Healthy agers reach out to objects inefficiently, they touch them when they don’t need to, they make all these extra little actions.
‘We think that might be the beginning of a problem. If you have more of those, then you are more vulnerable to decline in future.
‘It’s really too early on to say if there’s a problem but those subtle little signs might be something to keep an eye on.’
Dr Giovannetti and her team at Temple University, in Philadelphia, U.S., have identified two different types of task processing failures which could help diagnose which type of dementia people have and lead to more effective care.
They found people with Alzheimer’s disease tended to miss out vital steps or forget they needed to do a task completely, while those with other forms of dementia tended to have problems sorting the steps into the right order.
For the study, researchers asked 90 people, including 40 with dementia, to carry out everyday tasks in a laboratory environment.
The tasks included making a breakfast of jam on toast with a cup of coffee, packing a lunch for a child and wrapping a present.
Small errors like checking several times whether the teabag is in the cup or going back to the fridge when the milk is already out are things that show the brain’s processing ability is fading
They were observed while they did the task, then separately asked to describe how they would do it and to put pictures of each step of the task in the right order.
Dr Giovannetti said the laboratory tasks could be used to understand what kind of functional impairment someone has and the best way to intervene.
Families of patients who struggle with sequencing can help by practicing the task with them over and over at home, or by putting up picture diagrams showing each step.
But this would be ‘distracting’ for someone who simply forgets to do the task in the first place, Dr Giovannetti said.
Instead, simple word reminders like ‘Eat breakfast’ or ‘Brush your teeth’ would help these patients.
A study found people with Alzheimer’s disease tended to miss out vital steps or forget they needed to do a task completely, while those with other forms of dementia tended to have problems sorting the steps into the right order
The researchers are now developing the tasks as a tool for doctors to use to diagnose whether someone has dementia or mild cognitive impairment – where brain function begins to be affected and leads to dementia in half of cases.
Dr Giovannetti added: ‘Often people don’t have a caregiver who lives with them and early on the problems with function can be very subtle.
‘We are working on improving the early detection aspect with these tasks because it’s sometimes very challenging to know whether the person you are seeing in clinics really is having problems at home if they are not being observed.’
Dr Laura Phipps, of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: ‘There are over 30 steps involved in making a cup of tea so while it may seem like an everyday task to many of us, it can be an uphill struggle for someone with dementia.
‘Relatives of people with dementia often speak of small ‘warning signs’ many years before a diagnosis.
‘We all make small mistakes in our daily lives, and while these might become more common with age, this isn’t necessarily a sign of a problem. Anyone with concerns about their memory or their ability to carry out day-to-day tasks, should speak to their GP.’
She added that the research showed how people with dementia were prone to making small errors but the study did not look at how early these mistakes could start. The team also plans to investigate the link between microerrors and dementia.
The latest study is published in the Journal of Neuropsychology.