Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Evidence on the onset of naming deficits in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is mixed. Some studies showed an early decline, but others did not. The present study introduces evidence from a novel naming test. METHODS: Cognitively normal (n = 138), mild cognitive impairment (MCI; n = 21), and Alzheimer's disease (AD; n = 31) groups completed an expanded Multilingual Naming Test with a time-pressured administration procedure (MINT Sprint 2.0). Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers classified participants as true controls (n = 61) or preclinical AD (n = 26). RESULTS: Total correct MINT Sprint 2.0 scores exhibited good sensitivity and specificity (>0.85) for discriminating true controls from cognitively impaired (MCI/AD) groups and showed significant differences between true controls and preclinical AD groups. Time measurement did not improve classification, but percent resolved scores exhibited promise as an independent AD marker. DISCUSSION: Naming deficits can be detected in the earliest stages of AD with tests and procedures designed for this purpose.