A groundbreaking study has found cognitive tests performed through a smartphone app could be just as effective as in-clinic evaluations in detecting frontotemporal dementia, a neurological disorder that typically strikes in midlife and affects critical cognitive skills such as planning, prioritising tasks and impulse control.

Led by Adam Boxer, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, the study involved collaboration with the United States-based software company Datacubed Health, the Guardian reported.