Early Detection of Cognitive Impairment Using fNIRS and Machine Learning: Insights from the Clock Drawing Test

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to address the challenge of early detection and differentiation of cognitive impairment stages, including normal cognition (NC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer's disease (AD), by utilizing functional near‐infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during the Clock Drawing Test (CDT).