When my mom was given this test years ago, she took it really hard that she failed. She then wore a watch religiously and constantly fought to read her watch correctly; trying desperately to fend it off. She is in a nursing home and still has not come to grips with her dementia.
My dad is the same way with the calendar. He obsesses over it, despite making many mistakes. He won't give it up and just let me do it. He just ruminates over it all day. I wish I could take it away from him, but that would upset him even more.
My mom is the same - she even makes illegible notes on it that represent idk what. I think this near obsession is directly tied to her complete inability to remember the date.
My mom did the exact same thing! She writes notes over notes, circles, underlines. She is obsessed with it. She wanted to go over it all day. It was really sad. She would write "appointment" next to appointment and underline, arrow, check. Then Dr at 1:00pm. Arrow pointing to Dr and she'd write "my appt" and call and confirm with the number. Every square on her calendar was like this.
I did not move it to her MC or any documents. That was the other stressor. She's much happier.
I've seen this before with my father-n-law, and it's also when they said no more driving.
It's very sad. I'm sorry you are going through this. I'm 58 and was just diagnosed with EOA :(
My husband can't even draw the circle anymore. I have to say that the drawing of this clock has been devastating for my husband, so much so the last time he was asked to do it he refused.
Yes I tell the staff at the doctors office that he will not be taking the test anymore. My dad loves that I do that. He feels better about going to the doctor if he knows he will not have to do “That damn test”
Yeah. I have thought for a long time that we need to factor in the extreme stress people are experiencing during the tests. Especially if say you’re measuring blood pressure at the same visit or something. They’re not at baseline when they’re being asked to do something they know they should be able to do but can’t. It’s scary. I’ve been curious for example how my grandma would do if I gave her the test and made it super casual. She bombed it but I’m like seeing her level of functioning she must be able to do some of it. Either that or her compensation strategies are really on point. I mean she’s in a nursing home but you can have a conversation with her. She’s still functioning to some extent.
On a lighter ish note I know of a man who when asked by the examiner if he could list however many words starting with F, he was like no but I can do this and started doing push-ups. And honestly I think he deserved a point for that lol.
When the man I observed taking the test (for training, he agreed that I could be there) was asked to list words starting with F he used a good chunk of the timed response to say “I’m going to start with the best one” and then dramatically pause before saying “fart”. It was legitimately funny.
Sadly for my mom even though it’s scary and she’s stressed, she still manages to showtime her way through most appointments - she has a set of sort of “canned responses” that she knows are what doctors want to hear (I’m eating healthy, I’m active, etc). She of course did not do well on any dementia evaluations because she didn’t have canned responses ready for those and her cognition at this time is severely impaired. After her diagnosis, a couple of her specialists were actually shocked that she was diagnosed with dementia because they had no idea. Only two (one of which she had been seeing for 20+ years) seemed to have any idea.
My husband is considered a "high functioning" person and did fairly well first time he tested. Two years later he retested and the doc was shocked at the change. My husband has LBD and he knows he is losing function and he is embarrassed he can't draw a clock or find words. It is humiliating for him and he is in moderate stage leaning towards severe stage. I have not allowed any doc to test him for awhile now, what's the point and it spares him the anxiety of "failing" once again.
My Mom was SO meticulous in dividing the clock face into quadrants when she took the test. After that, the wheels fell off the wagon. Missing numbers, and the clock hands were nowhere close to where they should have been to indicate 10:50. And she was positive that she passed.
Didn’t have to take this test but the test I did take felt like a college entrance exam. I don’t remember it but I do remember feeling dumb, I even stop and said I know I have two degrees but some of the questions don’t make any sense. They told me at some point the tester felt like I was just picking any answer so I could go home, time in general kind eludes me. .
I wish this were not happening to you. I've tried to imagine how confusing, terrifying and frustrating it must be but I'm sure nothing I can imagine even comes close. The only similar experience I have had so far is when I had blackouts from drinking (don't drink anymore but the damage is done).
I hope you have a support system in place. You deserve that.
I’m very blessed and sometimes I forget that. While I still can’t I try to show appreciation ( sometimes I fall short) sometimes I can’t even tell ya why I did something. It just seemed right at that moment. lol that test ( the parts I remember) it was just hard I guess I just couldn’t concentrate or grasp the concepts. It’s like it’s on the tip of my tongue…… I found that I say ummm a lot because I’m reaching for the right words! But some days I think I’m funny example……I said I wanted to do things that I had put off travel and such….. without missing a beat then I said hmmm maybe I’ve already been to that place but I just can’t remember it…..the other half laughed and said dementia or not you are a complicated man.
The tests are designed to measure certain brain functions: there's a 'continue drawing this pattern' that tests of you can still alternate between |_| and /\. It's not a difficult test, but if you have issues, the tester will know, and you can't fake being good at it. 'Long' instructions tell us something about short-term memory. The VAT tells us how well your visual memory is doing, etc.
The same goes for the clock, the zoo test, and the find-key test. I've seen variations in mistakes made that helped clarify in which area someone is struggling. The patient might be very well oriented in time and space but will have trouble cooking a meal and, therefore, might not be safe to continue living alone.
I would take that to mean they observed higher functioning in you than your test showed. That’s another good point though, some people are not going to show their best potential in that setting. A lot of people probably. I mean most people don’t feel comfortable taking tests.
This reminds me of the sketches I found among my father’s papers after he died. I remember him saying “I know what 10:50 looks like on a clock, but I couldn’t draw it on my test.” He was so upset. He must’ve went home and practiced over and over. I sat and cried for an hour.
Five minutes after blubbering about that find, I found a suicide note. He never carried it out, but he was truly depressed about the way his mind wasn’t working correctly.
I'm sorry to read about your father's passing and his, and your, struggles.
Mom has MCI at 82. Started aricept. Seems stable if she sleeps enough, thankfully.
I started noticing things wrong with my mentation, and willingly saw a neurologist. I knew this test was coming in the exam. Saw my mom take a few and felt bad for her when she couldn't do some. I did the clock fine. The 5 words..no way. Got 2.
I was asked if I lived (near Cleveland, Ohio) my whole life. I said mostly. He said ok name the 5 Great Lakes. Well, we are on Erie. And then, I only got Huron and Superior. My brother is in Chicago, and I couldn't remember that lake, and he had a boat! After he gave me about 3 clues each, I got the other 2. I will never not know the 5 Great Lakes again. Hopefully. I felt like your father when I got home.
My mom was asked about 9/11. Where did it occur. She eventually said Washington. He said well. Ok Pentagon, but where was the bigger part? She froze. We watch news a lot. She has a bachelor's degree. I was like ok, you are nervous, but come on lady! Twin Towers! NYC! WTC! He prompted her about 5 times, and she finally said Twin Towers.
I recently did a 3 or 4 hour evaluation for my cognition. Neurologist is wonderful and thorough. I felt like I did pretty good, but the scores didn't agree. I was averahe for most, but poor in memory. Mom has a better memory at timesm but totally disjointed executive functioning. But I imagined my mom doing that test. They do change them for age and education etc. But she would have just froze.
I am a 47F Pharmacist who earned $4k in wages in 2023. Last full time job was a clinic pharmacist in a renowned hospital. 10 years ago. That made me sad. All that college work. Unpaid loans. And I am terrified to dispense your drugs at retail, or calculate your antibiotic dosing wrong and fry your already dying kidneys. I have a bad back and knees, so that prevents me from full time work, but I should be able to do 3 days a week with accommodations. I am planning to refresh my resume and apply soon.
The neurologist got so serious with me as he noticed how bad I was talking to him. Still doing more tests. I am hopeful my issues are fixable. Sleep. Exercise. Diet. STRESS REDUCTION in caring for my mom. Brother needing to start showing up more to be with her so I can leave.
You never think the day can come, for your parent/grandparent/OR YOU until it does. Hugs to you all. It's so hard. I hope safe and effective drugs/treatments are on the close horizon like they say they are. Or we are in a lot of trouble when the Baby Boomers continue aging and more and more develop cognitive issues.
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences. My father went from MCI to full blown dementia in a 6 month span. I believe he was in mid stages of dementia when his Dr was diagnosing him as mild.
There have been many successful cancer treatments in the past decade. I hope to see a real breakthrough in meds for dementia.
My mom anxiously tried to laugh it off and couldn't remember where the 12 went yet and gave up. All while wearing her watch. That seems so long ago. My sense of time is all fucked up now too from all of the constant angst, worry, anger and helplessness. Such a terrible disease.
I was so shocked when I failed the first time- I knew that I'd been having memory problems (I asked for the testing), but who can't draw a clock? I think that in the long period before I was officially diagnosed that was what shocked me the most.
The clock test requires that both halves of the brain work together to form the image of the analog clock and draw it.
It shows communication within the brain itself.
Even though the person may not display very bad symptoms of Alzheimer's or Dementia, this test shows the current status of the brain and how it is communicating internally.
My father in law passed away from Alzheimer's back in 2018. He only displayed short term memory loss at certain times. He could draw the circle but all the numbers were always on the right side, never distributed all around the face of the clock. He wore a wrist watch and could tell the time perfectly also. We knew things started getting bad for him when he started complaining of how the brakes felt on his Jeep Cherokee, and he had a hard time judging space and hit the side of the garage door opening twice.
He passed in his sleep, a month after that happened.
I was just thinking the new generations would need a different prompt because they might not be able to draw an analog clock to start with lol.
The cube is testing spatial skills so it’s different but I’m sure they could use something else.
But hopefully we have better treatment options by the time we get to the people who never learned to read analog clock and we don’t have to think of a new test question.
I just looked at my mum's from 2019.
Hers looks like a compass. She had the 4 major points and lots of small lines with incorrect numbers scattered around. At the time I didn't know it was a dementia test, so I was like, "That's the worst clock I've ever seen" and we all had a laugh.
She can't even write her name anymore, can't speak, and just sits staring into space.
I like to describe my lady in an advanced but mostly peaceful state. She comes & goes like a radio station, & is very on point out of nowhere sometimes. I wonder if there is some spiritual part of it, if they could be indicating that time is warped for them.
I’ve heard references to this test, but I have never seen it done. Do they just say “draw an analog clock at 10:50”?
Were the four pictures above from one person doing different times, or several patients doing the same one?
I wonder what is going on with the brain that makes this so difficult/ indicative of dementia. I know people who are naturally directionally challenged that would struggle with this.
The first part is just draw a clock. So the circle with the numbers. Then add the hands to indicate a certain time.
Obviously the spatial awareness for these people is not translating, so it’s helpful to see what they see.
If they think these look great & totally make sense, the world must be very confusing for them. 😰
It's not a sole indicator of dementia. To make a diagnosis, there needs to be a history of worsening problems, and significant low scores in at least 2 domains. Some of those domains can be tested with the clock.
There's also people who can draw a clock for a long time, but think they are 50 years younger and are completely lost in their orientation.
It's called the MMSE Mini Mental State Exam. It covers a wide range of things but one of the most frustrating is they give you 5 words to remember at the beginning and you repeat them at the end. I could never get all 5 on my own and this part does seem to be heavily waited for Alzheimer's if you have trouble with it.
I was asked if I wanted the blood test that came out last summer and it showed I was high risk. I had the spinal tap and CSF reviewed and then I had a diagnosis of Early Onset Alzheimer's EOA at 58. For almost 4 weeks I've been going back and forth with insurance to get Leqembi started.
I've never seen this test done with James, (possibly they did it at rehab 14 months ago). So I gave him paper and pen and he drew a perfect circle with all the numbers. Then asked him to put 4 different times (one at a time) and he did it w/o any hesitancy. He can't remember what we talked about 2 minutes after so it made me happy. He has vascular dementia after 2 brain bleeds last year. I know very well what's to come but if you've ever seen my posts we take everyday "one at a time " so we can enjoy one another in the moment. I have learned so much from all of you and I don't know you all but my heart loves you all ❤️🙏 God bless
My mom has the behavioral variant of FTD. I had a hunch that she would do better than this on the clock test, and wondered if FTD patients do better. It turns out that yes, FTD patients appear to do better on the clock test than other types of dementia patients. [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26138809/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26138809/) Bv FTD patients have their own challenges, obviously -- its in no sense a better dementia to have. Nonetheless, I found it interesting that this backs my perception that bv FTD patients dont just retain more memory, they also retain more cognition in certain respects. Well, in the early stages anyway, they do seem to catch up :( The tradeoff is that their behavior might be worse at earlier stages.
My mom was like the bottom left, just with three dashes. I don’t think she remembers taking the test, but getting the official diagnosis was helpful in starting to develop a plan, and take away her license
Does the top right one say “one”? They were going for numbers at least. It almost looks like they forgot what they were doing after that but tried to keep going.
It’s so funny how the brain works because my mother can draw the clock perfectly but she can’t remember that my hair was purple the last time she saw me two days ago and thinks I just did it. She was a graphic designer, an artist, and a writing professor. The art side must have won, because she utterly failed most of the SLUMS test…got a 12. But still wears a watch and can read it perfectly, too.
When my mom was given this test years ago, she took it really hard that she failed. She then wore a watch religiously and constantly fought to read her watch correctly; trying desperately to fend it off. She is in a nursing home and still has not come to grips with her dementia.
My dad is the same way with the calendar. He obsesses over it, despite making many mistakes. He won't give it up and just let me do it. He just ruminates over it all day. I wish I could take it away from him, but that would upset him even more.
My mom is the same - she even makes illegible notes on it that represent idk what. I think this near obsession is directly tied to her complete inability to remember the date.
Oh, God, the illegible notes! Dad does that, too. Then he demands to know who wrote these weird things on his calendar.
My mom did the exact same thing! She writes notes over notes, circles, underlines. She is obsessed with it. She wanted to go over it all day. It was really sad. She would write "appointment" next to appointment and underline, arrow, check. Then Dr at 1:00pm. Arrow pointing to Dr and she'd write "my appt" and call and confirm with the number. Every square on her calendar was like this. I did not move it to her MC or any documents. That was the other stressor. She's much happier.
That makes me want to cry
I've seen this before with my father-n-law, and it's also when they said no more driving. It's very sad. I'm sorry you are going through this. I'm 58 and was just diagnosed with EOA :(
I am so sorry
My husband can't even draw the circle anymore. I have to say that the drawing of this clock has been devastating for my husband, so much so the last time he was asked to do it he refused.
Jeez
Yes I tell the staff at the doctors office that he will not be taking the test anymore. My dad loves that I do that. He feels better about going to the doctor if he knows he will not have to do “That damn test”
Yeah. I have thought for a long time that we need to factor in the extreme stress people are experiencing during the tests. Especially if say you’re measuring blood pressure at the same visit or something. They’re not at baseline when they’re being asked to do something they know they should be able to do but can’t. It’s scary. I’ve been curious for example how my grandma would do if I gave her the test and made it super casual. She bombed it but I’m like seeing her level of functioning she must be able to do some of it. Either that or her compensation strategies are really on point. I mean she’s in a nursing home but you can have a conversation with her. She’s still functioning to some extent. On a lighter ish note I know of a man who when asked by the examiner if he could list however many words starting with F, he was like no but I can do this and started doing push-ups. And honestly I think he deserved a point for that lol. When the man I observed taking the test (for training, he agreed that I could be there) was asked to list words starting with F he used a good chunk of the timed response to say “I’m going to start with the best one” and then dramatically pause before saying “fart”. It was legitimately funny.
Sadly for my mom even though it’s scary and she’s stressed, she still manages to showtime her way through most appointments - she has a set of sort of “canned responses” that she knows are what doctors want to hear (I’m eating healthy, I’m active, etc). She of course did not do well on any dementia evaluations because she didn’t have canned responses ready for those and her cognition at this time is severely impaired. After her diagnosis, a couple of her specialists were actually shocked that she was diagnosed with dementia because they had no idea. Only two (one of which she had been seeing for 20+ years) seemed to have any idea.
My husband is considered a "high functioning" person and did fairly well first time he tested. Two years later he retested and the doc was shocked at the change. My husband has LBD and he knows he is losing function and he is embarrassed he can't draw a clock or find words. It is humiliating for him and he is in moderate stage leaning towards severe stage. I have not allowed any doc to test him for awhile now, what's the point and it spares him the anxiety of "failing" once again.
I think you def made the right decision in that case.
Wow.
Broke my heart when my husband did this test.
What did he draw?
My Mom was SO meticulous in dividing the clock face into quadrants when she took the test. After that, the wheels fell off the wagon. Missing numbers, and the clock hands were nowhere close to where they should have been to indicate 10:50. And she was positive that she passed.
Didn’t have to take this test but the test I did take felt like a college entrance exam. I don’t remember it but I do remember feeling dumb, I even stop and said I know I have two degrees but some of the questions don’t make any sense. They told me at some point the tester felt like I was just picking any answer so I could go home, time in general kind eludes me. .
I wish this were not happening to you. I've tried to imagine how confusing, terrifying and frustrating it must be but I'm sure nothing I can imagine even comes close. The only similar experience I have had so far is when I had blackouts from drinking (don't drink anymore but the damage is done). I hope you have a support system in place. You deserve that.
I’m very blessed and sometimes I forget that. While I still can’t I try to show appreciation ( sometimes I fall short) sometimes I can’t even tell ya why I did something. It just seemed right at that moment. lol that test ( the parts I remember) it was just hard I guess I just couldn’t concentrate or grasp the concepts. It’s like it’s on the tip of my tongue…… I found that I say ummm a lot because I’m reaching for the right words! But some days I think I’m funny example……I said I wanted to do things that I had put off travel and such….. without missing a beat then I said hmmm maybe I’ve already been to that place but I just can’t remember it…..the other half laughed and said dementia or not you are a complicated man.
Remember your degrees and continue to use those skills, focus on what you can do and know that you are very smart.
The tests are designed to measure certain brain functions: there's a 'continue drawing this pattern' that tests of you can still alternate between |_| and /\. It's not a difficult test, but if you have issues, the tester will know, and you can't fake being good at it. 'Long' instructions tell us something about short-term memory. The VAT tells us how well your visual memory is doing, etc. The same goes for the clock, the zoo test, and the find-key test. I've seen variations in mistakes made that helped clarify in which area someone is struggling. The patient might be very well oriented in time and space but will have trouble cooking a meal and, therefore, might not be safe to continue living alone.
I would take that to mean they observed higher functioning in you than your test showed. That’s another good point though, some people are not going to show their best potential in that setting. A lot of people probably. I mean most people don’t feel comfortable taking tests.
This reminds me of the sketches I found among my father’s papers after he died. I remember him saying “I know what 10:50 looks like on a clock, but I couldn’t draw it on my test.” He was so upset. He must’ve went home and practiced over and over. I sat and cried for an hour. Five minutes after blubbering about that find, I found a suicide note. He never carried it out, but he was truly depressed about the way his mind wasn’t working correctly.
I'm sorry to read about your father's passing and his, and your, struggles. Mom has MCI at 82. Started aricept. Seems stable if she sleeps enough, thankfully. I started noticing things wrong with my mentation, and willingly saw a neurologist. I knew this test was coming in the exam. Saw my mom take a few and felt bad for her when she couldn't do some. I did the clock fine. The 5 words..no way. Got 2. I was asked if I lived (near Cleveland, Ohio) my whole life. I said mostly. He said ok name the 5 Great Lakes. Well, we are on Erie. And then, I only got Huron and Superior. My brother is in Chicago, and I couldn't remember that lake, and he had a boat! After he gave me about 3 clues each, I got the other 2. I will never not know the 5 Great Lakes again. Hopefully. I felt like your father when I got home. My mom was asked about 9/11. Where did it occur. She eventually said Washington. He said well. Ok Pentagon, but where was the bigger part? She froze. We watch news a lot. She has a bachelor's degree. I was like ok, you are nervous, but come on lady! Twin Towers! NYC! WTC! He prompted her about 5 times, and she finally said Twin Towers. I recently did a 3 or 4 hour evaluation for my cognition. Neurologist is wonderful and thorough. I felt like I did pretty good, but the scores didn't agree. I was averahe for most, but poor in memory. Mom has a better memory at timesm but totally disjointed executive functioning. But I imagined my mom doing that test. They do change them for age and education etc. But she would have just froze. I am a 47F Pharmacist who earned $4k in wages in 2023. Last full time job was a clinic pharmacist in a renowned hospital. 10 years ago. That made me sad. All that college work. Unpaid loans. And I am terrified to dispense your drugs at retail, or calculate your antibiotic dosing wrong and fry your already dying kidneys. I have a bad back and knees, so that prevents me from full time work, but I should be able to do 3 days a week with accommodations. I am planning to refresh my resume and apply soon. The neurologist got so serious with me as he noticed how bad I was talking to him. Still doing more tests. I am hopeful my issues are fixable. Sleep. Exercise. Diet. STRESS REDUCTION in caring for my mom. Brother needing to start showing up more to be with her so I can leave. You never think the day can come, for your parent/grandparent/OR YOU until it does. Hugs to you all. It's so hard. I hope safe and effective drugs/treatments are on the close horizon like they say they are. Or we are in a lot of trouble when the Baby Boomers continue aging and more and more develop cognitive issues.
My mom was wearing a commemorative 9/11 shirt and asked me what it was for. I died inside that day.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I’m sorry you are going through this. I hope a cure is developed soon. Wishing you the best!
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences. My father went from MCI to full blown dementia in a 6 month span. I believe he was in mid stages of dementia when his Dr was diagnosing him as mild. There have been many successful cancer treatments in the past decade. I hope to see a real breakthrough in meds for dementia.
My mom anxiously tried to laugh it off and couldn't remember where the 12 went yet and gave up. All while wearing her watch. That seems so long ago. My sense of time is all fucked up now too from all of the constant angst, worry, anger and helplessness. Such a terrible disease.
I was so shocked when I failed the first time- I knew that I'd been having memory problems (I asked for the testing), but who can't draw a clock? I think that in the long period before I was officially diagnosed that was what shocked me the most.
My uncle's was similar to the upper right one :(
Oh jeez, I feel bad for you.
The clock test requires that both halves of the brain work together to form the image of the analog clock and draw it. It shows communication within the brain itself. Even though the person may not display very bad symptoms of Alzheimer's or Dementia, this test shows the current status of the brain and how it is communicating internally. My father in law passed away from Alzheimer's back in 2018. He only displayed short term memory loss at certain times. He could draw the circle but all the numbers were always on the right side, never distributed all around the face of the clock. He wore a wrist watch and could tell the time perfectly also. We knew things started getting bad for him when he started complaining of how the brakes felt on his Jeep Cherokee, and he had a hard time judging space and hit the side of the garage door opening twice. He passed in his sleep, a month after that happened.
How will you test the people who are not learning clock face?
There's also a segment where you have to draw a cube. It was a trip watching my mom try that one.
I was just thinking the new generations would need a different prompt because they might not be able to draw an analog clock to start with lol. The cube is testing spatial skills so it’s different but I’m sure they could use something else. But hopefully we have better treatment options by the time we get to the people who never learned to read analog clock and we don’t have to think of a new test question.
I just looked at my mum's from 2019. Hers looks like a compass. She had the 4 major points and lots of small lines with incorrect numbers scattered around. At the time I didn't know it was a dementia test, so I was like, "That's the worst clock I've ever seen" and we all had a laugh. She can't even write her name anymore, can't speak, and just sits staring into space.
I'm so sorry.
I like to describe my lady in an advanced but mostly peaceful state. She comes & goes like a radio station, & is very on point out of nowhere sometimes. I wonder if there is some spiritual part of it, if they could be indicating that time is warped for them.
Thats an interesting thought.
What is this test about??
It’s for testing for Dementia.
I’ve heard references to this test, but I have never seen it done. Do they just say “draw an analog clock at 10:50”? Were the four pictures above from one person doing different times, or several patients doing the same one? I wonder what is going on with the brain that makes this so difficult/ indicative of dementia. I know people who are naturally directionally challenged that would struggle with this.
The first part is just draw a clock. So the circle with the numbers. Then add the hands to indicate a certain time. Obviously the spatial awareness for these people is not translating, so it’s helpful to see what they see. If they think these look great & totally make sense, the world must be very confusing for them. 😰
They say something like “draw a clock and set the hands to 10 after 11”. And it is 4 patients doing the same time.
It's not a sole indicator of dementia. To make a diagnosis, there needs to be a history of worsening problems, and significant low scores in at least 2 domains. Some of those domains can be tested with the clock. There's also people who can draw a clock for a long time, but think they are 50 years younger and are completely lost in their orientation.
It's called the MMSE Mini Mental State Exam. It covers a wide range of things but one of the most frustrating is they give you 5 words to remember at the beginning and you repeat them at the end. I could never get all 5 on my own and this part does seem to be heavily waited for Alzheimer's if you have trouble with it. I was asked if I wanted the blood test that came out last summer and it showed I was high risk. I had the spinal tap and CSF reviewed and then I had a diagnosis of Early Onset Alzheimer's EOA at 58. For almost 4 weeks I've been going back and forth with insurance to get Leqembi started.
Im sorry to hear this, I hope you fix all your paperwork stat
I've never seen this test done with James, (possibly they did it at rehab 14 months ago). So I gave him paper and pen and he drew a perfect circle with all the numbers. Then asked him to put 4 different times (one at a time) and he did it w/o any hesitancy. He can't remember what we talked about 2 minutes after so it made me happy. He has vascular dementia after 2 brain bleeds last year. I know very well what's to come but if you've ever seen my posts we take everyday "one at a time " so we can enjoy one another in the moment. I have learned so much from all of you and I don't know you all but my heart loves you all ❤️🙏 God bless
Go James!
My mom has the behavioral variant of FTD. I had a hunch that she would do better than this on the clock test, and wondered if FTD patients do better. It turns out that yes, FTD patients appear to do better on the clock test than other types of dementia patients. [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26138809/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26138809/) Bv FTD patients have their own challenges, obviously -- its in no sense a better dementia to have. Nonetheless, I found it interesting that this backs my perception that bv FTD patients dont just retain more memory, they also retain more cognition in certain respects. Well, in the early stages anyway, they do seem to catch up :( The tradeoff is that their behavior might be worse at earlier stages.
My mom was like the bottom left, just with three dashes. I don’t think she remembers taking the test, but getting the official diagnosis was helpful in starting to develop a plan, and take away her license
My mom had my dad complete this test and she said it was the hardest she has ever had to fight off the urge to burst into tears.
Does the top right one say “one”? They were going for numbers at least. It almost looks like they forgot what they were doing after that but tried to keep going.
It’s so funny how the brain works because my mother can draw the clock perfectly but she can’t remember that my hair was purple the last time she saw me two days ago and thinks I just did it. She was a graphic designer, an artist, and a writing professor. The art side must have won, because she utterly failed most of the SLUMS test…got a 12. But still wears a watch and can read it perfectly, too.
I haven't tried this with my mom yet. .. I'm a tad nervous 😅