This observational cohort study in healthy volunteers establishes normative data for the German version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and investigates the possible impacts of demographics on the MoCA total score.

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a short tool to evaluate a multitude of cognitive domains (visuospatial / executive functioning, object naming, memory, attention, language, abstraction, orientation). The original English MoCA consistently showed very high sensitivity and specificity in distinguishing patients with mild cognitive impairment from healthy controls. Therefore it is an excellent tool for early recognition of cognitive disorders. Based on a Canadian sample, the MoCA proposes a cut-off-value of 26/30 points. However, there is increasing evidence of intercultural differences in terms of the best cut-off-score. In addition the original version only slightly corrects for possible influences of education - an adjustment for age- or gender-related effects is missing. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate the possible impacts of demographics on the MoCA total score and to provide normative values for a German-speaking population.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age ≥65 years
• Education ≥7 years
• Fluency in the German language
• Written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• History of cognitive impairment
• Depression
• Severe sensory or motor impairment interfering with cognitive testing
• Serious somatic disease
• Disease or event affecting the central nervous system
• Cerebrovascular disease
• Regular medication with psychoactive drugs except for benzodiazepines
• Participation in a cognitive study within the last 3 months

Healthy volunteers