In his first medical exam as US President, Donald Trump “did exceedingly well” on a cognitive test, scoring 30 out of 30. US President Donald Trump received a perfect score in a cognitive function test used to detect a mental decline in someone who's otherwise healthy. White House doctor Ronny Jackson said Mr Trump did "exceedingly well" in the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). But what did the President have to do?
What's a MoCA?
It's a relatively simple test that helps health professionals tell whether someone has an abnormal cognitive function — whether their ability to think is disturbed. Cognitive function refers to memory, speech, reading comprehension and the ability to learn new information.
The one-page test takes about 10 to 12 minutes to complete. The test was created in 1996 by Ziad Nasreddine in Montreal, Quebec. But it wasn't until 2005 that McGill University researchers found it had the potential to detect early Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
It's now available in 55 languages and dialects. MoCA assesses orientation, short-term memory, executive function, language abilities, attention and visuospatial ability. The test is worth 30 points, with each task allocated a value between one and six points.
The questions include basic tasks such as counting backwards from seven, drawing a clock that reads 10 past 11, identifying certain animals and repeating back specific sets of words.
The standard version of the test is "pretty good" but "not definitive", Dr Ronald Petersen, an Alzheimer's disease expert at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, told Reuters.
The test does not assess the president's psychiatric fitness and the president did not undergo a psychiatric evaluation, according to his doctor.
According to the Alzheimer's Association, there is no single test that proves a person has Alzheimer's disease. That diagnosis can only be made through a complete assessment that considers all possible causes.
