Faculty Supervisor:
Dr. Konstantine Zakzanis
Early detection of cognitive decline (e.g., Dementia) allows for early intervention of treatment and, in turn, a better overall prognosis. However, a full neuropsychological assessment (which lasts 4-10 hours) would not be feasible or reasonable for many individuals. Thus, a cognitive screening measure, such as BrainScreen (developed using a previous Mitacs-Accelerate grant), would be used as a quick, cost-effective and sensitive test for cognitive decline. To increase the utility of this test to non-English speaking individuals, various translations of the test will be created using the Ortsbo Inc. translation service. Therefore, the current study proposes to translate BrainScreen into the top five languages spoken in Toronto and to test bilingual individuals on English and their native language. The results will be compared to measure the relative reliability of the translated versions. The expected benefit to the partner organization is in-line with their mission statement, which is to invest in new technologies that connect people with brands. Further, this would increase the use and utility of their translation software to the mental-health sector which would in turn increase interest from investors.
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