Cognitive Assessment in Montreal Doesn’t Prove or Disprove, Mad Trump
Are you a doctor examining an elderly patient? Do you want to be sure that you would notice mild dementia in your patient? Then you can ask a few simple questions, such as whether the patient can recognize a drawing of a lion and memorize a list of five words. However, if you want to know if the president is suitable for the position, you may need to spend more than ten minutes on this question.
Our president brilliantly passed the Montreal Cognitive Test during his physical on Friday, scoring 30 out of 30. Phew, he really knows what a lion looks like.
This result does not prove that he is at the pinnacle of mental health or that he is competent to stand trial. Here’s what the test really means: If you have mild cognitive impairments, such as early Alzheimer’s, the chances of you failing the test is about 90 percent. If you don’t, there is an 87 percent chance that you will pass.
And that’s all he tells us. There are so many aspects of mental health that cannot be detected with such a test. If you are wondering how you will score points, take a friend and take a look: the test is here, and the instructions are here . It’s meant to be prescribed by a doctor, so don’t get hung up on the results (unless your friend is a doctor).
Oh, and one more fun fact: Ziad Nasrudin , who developed the test, immigrated to Canada from Lebanon as a teenager. He suffered a very understated painful burn when it was written in an interview with the Canadian National Post that “he hopes the president learns from [the test]: it shows how immigrants and Arabs can make valuable contributions to American society.”