Wavelight red blue tight

How Memory Exam works

A man in his late seventies speaking into a tablet at a sunlit kitchen table

Simple and empowering

With Memory Exam, instructions are spoken aloud and your answers are recorded by voice, using Intraneuron's patented speech recognition. Nothing is typed, nothing is clicked and there is no writing to do.

It takes 10–15 minutes start to finish, in one sitting.

Why verbal testing is better

Verbal memory is one of the first things to change in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Testing it properly means asking someone to listen, hold words in their mind and say them back, which is exactly what a clinical neuropsychologist does in person.

A written or multiple-choice quiz cannot do this. Passing these types of tests may miss early cognitive change.

Speaking your answers means the exam can score free recall, the same thing a clinician captures with a scoresheet. This is where Memory Exam steps in, with its patented technology.

The mistakes themselves carry information. The specific errors people make on a word list, such as saying words that were never on it, predict who goes on to develop mild cognitive impairment within five years. That held true even after researchers accounted for age, education, how people were managing day to day, their overall test scores and markers of Alzheimer's disease in the brain.

Where this information comes from

Albert MS, DeKosky ST, Dickson D, and others. The diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease: recommendations from the National Institute on Aging and Alzheimer's Association workgroups. Alzheimer's & Dementia 2011;7(3). doi:10.1016/j.jalz.2011.03.008
Thomas KR, Eppig J, Edmonds EC, and others. Word-list intrusion errors predict progression to mild cognitive impairment. Neuropsychology 2018;32(2). doi:10.1037/neu0000413

A Latina woman in her fifties and her father in his seventies laughing at something a grandchild just whispered
A white woman in her seventies and her adult son leaning over a garden fence mid-anecdote with a neighbour

Easy to take, at home

Because Memory Exam is always available and takes 10–15 minutes to complete, you'll have more time to schedule the things you enjoy.

What happens during the exam

  1. A sound check. The exam confirms it can hear you before anything is scored.
  2. Listening and recall. You hear a set of words and say back the ones you remember. This repeats, so the exam can see how much you learn across attempts, not just what you retained on the first pass.
  3. Fluency. You name as many items in a category as you can within a short time.
  4. Delayed recall. Later in the exam you are asked for those words again, after your attention has been elsewhere.

The gap between what you learned and what you kept is often the most informative part of the whole exam.

A Black man in his fifties with a printed report and a pen on a kitchen table
A small group of friends in their sixties and seventies, mixed races and both genders, tilting a head to follow a story at a long outdoor table

How your answers are scored

Your spoken answers are transcribed and then scored against normative data, which is what people of your age and educational background typically achieve.

This comparison is exactly the point. A raw number of words recalled means very little on its own. The same score can be entirely expected at age 78 and worth a conversation with a doctor or healthcare provider at age 52.

The technology is covered by United States patents 11,547,345 and 12,226,221, and the approach has been evaluated against standard neuropsychological assessment in peer-reviewed research.

A Latino man in his seventies repeating a word aloud, hand resting on the table

What you need

  • A smartphone, tablet or computer with a microphone and speakers
  • A current browser. Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox are all verified.
  • A quiet room, because background noise interferes with recording your answers.
  • 10–15 minutes when you will not be interrupted.

There is no app to install, and no special hardware. Headphones are fine, but not required.

What to remember

Memory Exam is a screening test, not a diagnosis. It can show whether your memory performance differs from what is expected for your age and background. It cannot tell you why.

Only a clinician can diagnose a cause. If your results suggest a change, take them to your qualified doctor or healthcare provider.

A white man in his sixties at a kitchen table cleared of clutter before starting
A woman in her fifties smiling at a laptop at home warm morni

Where to go next

Memory Exam is 10–15 minutes and taken at home.

Buy a Memory Exam

if you are still deciding, compare it against other memory tests, or read how your data is protected.