New brain test aims to unravel language confusion in dementia
NCT ID NCT07573046
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study is testing a new cognitive assessment called the ExéSem battery, designed to help doctors tell the difference between language problems caused by memory loss versus those caused by thinking difficulties. Researchers will enroll 140 people, including those with Alzheimer's disease, vascular cognitive impairment, a specific language disorder, and healthy volunteers. Participants will complete tasks like matching words to pictures and naming objects quickly, with results used to see if the battery can accurately identify the root cause of language issues.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- ExéSem cognitive battery (a neuropsychological assessment tool)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this battery could help doctors more accurately diagnose whether language problems are due to memory loss or thinking difficulties.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early validation study, not a treatment trial. The battery may not prove reliable enough for widespread use, and results may not apply to all patients.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Participants
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About 140 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Sep 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Sep 2029
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
Who is studied
The study population includes two groups aged 50 to 90 years: cognitively healthy participants and patients with mild to moderate neurocognitive disorders (MMSE ≥20/30), including Alzheimer's disease, vascular neurocognitive disorder, or semantic variant primary progressive aphasia. Healthy participants are recruited on a voluntary basis through flyers displayed in the Charpennes Hospital and distributed by speech therapy and neuropsychology students. Interested individuals contact the Clinical Research Center (CRC), where they receive initial information during a phone call and are provided with the study information sheet before scheduling an inclusion visit. Patients with neurocognitive disorders are recruited during routine clinical care (consultation or day hospital assessment).
- Ages
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50 to 90 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * \- Participants without cognitive impairment * Participant aged 50 to 90 years (inclusive); * Participant whose native language is French * Participant affiliated with or entitled to a social security scheme; * Participants who have been informed and have not objected. * Participants with cognitive impairment * Participant aged 50 to 90 years (inclusive); * Participant whose native language is French * Participant receiving memory care with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, at the stage of minor or major neurocognitive impairment, according to the 2011 NIA-AA criteria (McKahn et al., 2011), or with a diagnosis of vascular neurocognitive impairment according to the VasCog-2-WSO diagnostic criteria (Sachdev et al., 2025), or with a diagnosis of primary progressive aphasia with semantic variant (Gorno-Tempini et al., 2011). * Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score ≥ 20/30, within the 6 months preceding enrollment; * Participants affiliated with or entitled to a social security scheme; * Participants who have been informed and have not objected. Exclusion Criteria: * \- For all participants: * Severe, progressive, or unstable medical conditions that may interfere with assessment variables (epilepsy, acute psychiatric or psychotic disorders, visual hallucinations, acute infection); * Substance use that may affect cognitive performance; * Deafness or blindness that may compromise the participant's assessment or participation in tasks and scales; * Participants under guardianship, curatorship, or legal protection; * Pregnant, postpartum, or breastfeeding women. * Specifically for participants without cognitive impairment: * Participants previously diagnosed with cognitive impairment. * Specifically for participants with cognitive impairment: * Severe behavioral and psychological symptoms that prevent task completion, as determined by the investigator.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Hopital des CHARPENNES ( Hospices Civils de Lyon)
Lyon, 69100, France
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