Trump health check: would you pass the Montreal cognitive test?
President aced ten-minute routine screening but how reliable is it?
Donald Trump’s doctor has announced that the US president received a perfect 30 out of 30 score on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, a tool that screens patients for mental conditions including Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment.
White House physician Ronny Jackson says he has “absolutely no concerns” about Trump’s cognitive ability, the brain-based skills needed to carry out both simple and complex tasks.
But what is the Montreal test, and is it conclusive?
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Studies show that the test can be used to spot problems with the brain’s executive functioning “even before other signs of mental decline are apparent”, The Washington Post says.
Although the standard Montreal test is “pretty good”, it is “not definitive”, Dr Ronald Petersen, an Alzheimer’s disease expert at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, told Reuters.
The Alzheimer’s Association says the disease is not detected through just one test but through a complete assessment that considers possible causes.
The 30-point Montreal test takes about ten minutes and requires patients to perform memory and other mental tasks, CNN says. Participants are asked, for example, to draw a line between a number and a letter in ascending order; to draw a clock and put numbers on it; and to remember a list of common words.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
People with a good or average memory generally forget one of the five words and are still within the normal range, Dr James Mastrianni, an expert in neurodegenerative conditions, told Reuters.
What the Montreal test does not do is assess psychiatric fitness - and Trump did not undergo a psychiatric evaluation, according to his doctor.
-
Navy jet, helicopter crash half-hour apart off carrierSpeed Read A US Navy helicopter and a fighter jet both crashed in the same half-hour during separate operations
-
Hurricane Melissa slams Jamaica as Category 5 stormSpeed Read The year’s most powerful storm is also expected to be the strongest ever recorded in Jamaica
-
Protesters fight to topple one of Africa’s longstanding authoritarian nationsIn the Spotlight Cameroon’s president has been in office 1982
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designationThe Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago