Exploring the perceptual and cognitive deficits in older individuals and individuals with Alzheimer’s disease using the dichotic double-word test- Kannada (DDWT-K)

Dichotic Listening (DL) is a test where auditory stimuli are presented simultaneously to each ear. There are limited systematic dichotic studies that have compared the differences between normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Hence the study aimed to explore the perceptual and cognitive deficits in normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease using the developed novel test. The developed novel dichotic test was administered on a total of 65 subjects, 25 middle-aged adults 25 older adults, and 15 older adults with Alzheimer’s disease under four conditions. The within-subject comparison revealed a significant left ear (LE) deficit in older adults and Alzheimer’s subjects. The results showed a significantly poorer score in switch attention when compared to forced attention only in Alzheimer’s subjects. Overall, the study was able to identify significant perceptual and cognitive deficits in older individuals and individuals with Alzheimer’s population. Moreover, the switch attention condition showed a significant reduction in the performance of Alzheimer’s patients when compared to older individuals, thus being a remarkable distinguishing factor in the differential diagnosis of cognitive deficits between the two.