Fastball is a three-minute brainwave test that could flag memory problems tied to Alzheimer’s years before a formal diagnosis. The EEG-based method records the brain’s automatic responses to rapid images via small scalp sensors. In the trial led by researchers from the University of Bath and University of Bristol and published in Brain Communications, 52 people with mild cognitive impairment and 54 healthy older adults took part, alongside a series of neuropsychological assessments.

Participants with amnestic MCI, where memory loss is the main symptom, produced weaker responses to Fastball than both healthy controls and those with non-amnestic MCI. A one-year follow-up suggested the test has moderate to good reliability in healthy older adults, and the researchers showed it can be performed in people’s homes.

Dr George Stothart, who led the Bath element of the study, said: ‘We’re missing the first 10 to 20 years of Alzheimer’s with current diagnostic tools. Fastball offers a way to change that – detecting memory decline far earlier and more objectively, using a quick and passive test.’ The Alzheimer’s Society notes about 982,000 people in the UK have dementia, with more than a third without a diagnosis, a figure projected to rise to about 1.4 million by 2040. Chris Williams, chief executive of BRACE Dementia Research, described Fastball as ‘an incredible tool’ for those who cannot access a dementia diagnosis in a clinical setting. Sir John Hardy of the UK Dementia Research Institute cautioned that while early identification is increasingly important, the protocol cannot distinguish early Alzheimer’s from other causes of decline and would require additional tests. Dr Julia Dudley, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said longer-term studies in larger, more diverse groups are needed and that the one-year follow-up does not prove progression to dementia. Prof Fiona Carragher, chief policy and research officer at Alzheimer’s Society, stressed that many people live with dementia without support and that earlier, accurate diagnosis is essential to enable access to care and treatment.