A U.S. company has developed a groundbreaking test that may be able to predict Alzheimer’s disease—and other neurodegenerative conditions—decades before symptoms appear.

While the current thinking is that Alzheimer’s and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) can only be definitively diagnosed after the person has died, via an autopsy of the brain, a new pre-diagnostic biomarker test has changed that.

Contemporary Health Systems, LLC recently received a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a novel “test-of-function” that identifies very early warning signs of diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, and dementia.

How it Works

Unlike traditional brain scans or memory tests, this new assessment focuses on how people perceive and identify certain threshold signals — subtle brain functions that can reveal damage long before memory loss or other obvious symptoms begin. These tests are designed to be repeatable, scoreable, recordable, and trackable — which means doctors could potentially follow patients over time to see changes years in advance.

Why It Matters

The company says the tool can detect problems up to 20 years before symptoms appear, offering a chance for earlier prevention, intervention, and research. That’s especially important because once diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s progress, treatments often only slow —not stop — the decline.

The patent also covers assessments for other brain- and nerve-related conditions, including:

• Concussions and traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• Repetitive head impacts (RHI)
• Early signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)
• Precursor stages of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Chemotherapy-induced malnutrition

Preventing Disease in the Future

The company believes this innovation could open the door to new strategies for preventing and treating these conditions, possibly aided by artificial intelligence. They also point to peer-reviewed research and clinical validation studies that support the test’s potential.

As Alzheimer’s and related conditions continue to affect millions worldwide, this patent signals a major step toward detecting — and one day stopping — neurodegeneration before it starts.