{"id":7551,"date":"2026-08-23T12:05:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T12:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7551"},"modified":"2026-08-23T12:05:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T12:05:30","slug":"people-can-sense-mental-decline-says-new-research-powered-by-smartwatches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7551","title":{"rendered":"People can sense mental decline, says new research powered by smartwatches"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Older adults may be better judges of their moment-to-moment mental sharpness than scientists once assumed, according to a UC Davis study \u2014 which relied on familiar technology:\u00a0the smartwatch.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018It\u2019s all very chaotic\u2019: Inside the Bay Area\u2019s mass immigration hearings<\/a><\/p>\n

The study found that when an individual rated their mental sharpness below their own average, their performance on the objective cognitive tasks also tended to be lower.<\/p>\n

Published in the American Psychological Association journal Neuropsychology<\/em>, the findings could eventually help researchers develop new ways to identify cognitive changes earlier, potentially including those that precede dementia.<\/p>\n

It is unusual because it captures cognition during daily life rather than relying on a person\u2019s memory or a single office test using the ubiquitous mobile technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeasuring change in a person\u2019s cognitive functioning is really hard,\u201d said Brandon Gavett, the study\u2019s first author.<\/p>\n

The real-time approach is innovative. When patients report cognitive issues, doctors rely on their memory of those events and screen them when they may be feeling better.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of questions about how best to measure these complaints,\u201d said Sarah Tomaszewski Farias, a study author and professor of neurology at UC Davis.<\/p>\n

The study gave smartwatches to 62 participants who performed within normal ranges on standard cognitive tests. Four times a day for one week, the participants received a reminder on the watches to rate their mental sharpness and mood. After participants logged their perceptions, they completed brief tests on the watches measuring processing speed and attention. Researchers accounted for factors including age, mood and time of day. Both perceived mental sharpness and cognitive performance tended to decline later in the day.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The findings, Gavett said, offer a new way to incorporate people\u2019s own perceptions of whether their cognition is better or worse than normal.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, researchers and doctors ask someone to retrospectively assess how their cognition has been over the past year, Farias said. Those assessments can be affected by recall bias. Asking people repeatedly how they feel in the moment could get around some of those limitations.<\/p>\n

Historically, there has also been skepticism that people can judge their own cognition. Mood, for example, is a complication. Depression can influence how people evaluate their memory and cognitive abilities.<\/p>\n

But Farias said one of the study\u2019s most encouraging findings was that the relationship between participants\u2019 perceived mental sharpness and their objective performance did not appear to be explained by mood.<\/p>\n

Read more Opinion: Violence by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians on the West Bank threatens new Mideast flash point<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one of the aspects of the study that surprised me the most,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because previous research has found an association between subjective cognitive concerns and depression, she said, and depression itself can make people feel that their memory is worse.<\/p>\n

Heather Snyder, senior vice president of medical and scientific relations at the Alzheimer\u2019s Association, who was not involved in the study, called the findings an interesting step toward understanding whether people\u2019s perceptions could provide researchers with additional information about cognitive health.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur perceptions are sometimes the first indicator,\u201d Snyder said.<\/p>\n

Snyder said the study joins a growing body of research exploring whether everyday technology like smartwatches could help scientists detect subtle cognitive changes. Researchers are using wearables to study changes in speech and people\u2019s patterns of activity, as well, she said.<\/p>\n

The appeal of mobile technology is that it allows measurements outside of a clinic.<\/p>\n

A traditional cognitive assessment captures how someone performs at a particular point in time, often in a quiet and controlled environment. A wearable device could theoretically collect many observations as a person cooks dinner, runs errands or goes about the rest of their day.<\/p>\n

But a smartwatch that buzzes several times a day comes with its own limitations.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome older adults may not want to wear the devices or be continuously prompted,\u201d Gavett said.<\/p>\n

He added that users have to tolerate interruptions and remember to charge them.<\/p>\n

People should know, however, that a week of smartwatch data isn\u2019t going to tell someone whether they are developing dementia, he said. Scientists still need to determine whether patterns collected over months or years can predict future cognitive impairment.<\/p>\n

\u201cResearchers may need to follow people for months or even years to determine whether changes in these measurements provide meaningful information about someone\u2019s risk of larger cognitive decline,\u201d Gavett said.<\/p>\n

Farias said that is now one of the biggest questions facing the researchers.<\/p>\n

The researchers say the next step will be to continue testing approaches like this in clinical trials before expanding to larger populations and determining how reliably they can detect meaningful cognitive changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoving in the right direction to get people help for dementia as early as possible is the goal,\u201d Gavett said.<\/p>\n

Read more How to find the best travel deals over Labor Day and beyond<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Older adults may be better judges of their moment-to-moment mental sharpness than scientists once assumed, according to a UC Davis study.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nPeople can sense mental decline, says new research powered by smartwatches - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7551\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"People can sense mental decline, says new research powered by smartwatches - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Older adults may be better judges of their moment-to-moment mental sharpness than scientists once assumed, according to a UC Davis study.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7551\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-23T12:05:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7551#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7551\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"People can sense mental decline, says new research powered by smartwatches\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-23T12:05:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7551\"},\"wordCount\":829,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7551#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/7fb2f0a926c9af7d0a92512d0dc1e1ba-scaled.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7551#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7551\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7551\",\"name\":\"People can sense mental decline, says new research powered by smartwatches - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7551#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7551#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/7fb2f0a926c9af7d0a92512d0dc1e1ba-scaled.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-23T12:05:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7551#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7551\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7551#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/7fb2f0a926c9af7d0a92512d0dc1e1ba-scaled.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/7fb2f0a926c9af7d0a92512d0dc1e1ba-scaled.webp\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7551#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"People can sense mental decline, says new research powered by smartwatches\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"People can sense mental decline, says new research powered by smartwatches - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7551","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"People can sense mental decline, says new research powered by smartwatches - Next City Digest","og_description":"Older adults may be better judges of their moment-to-moment mental sharpness than scientists once assumed, according to a UC Davis study.","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7551","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-08-23T12:05:30+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7551#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7551"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"People can sense mental decline, says new research powered by smartwatches","datePublished":"2026-08-23T12:05:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7551"},"wordCount":829,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7551#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7fb2f0a926c9af7d0a92512d0dc1e1ba-scaled.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7551#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7551","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7551","name":"People can sense mental decline, says new research powered by smartwatches - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7551#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7551#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7fb2f0a926c9af7d0a92512d0dc1e1ba-scaled.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-23T12:05:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7551#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7551"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7551#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7fb2f0a926c9af7d0a92512d0dc1e1ba-scaled.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7fb2f0a926c9af7d0a92512d0dc1e1ba-scaled.webp","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7551#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"People can sense mental decline, says new research powered by smartwatches"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}