PRESS RELEASE:
Health company unveils a cognitive health program and new funding
PALO ALTO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–January 27, 2016–
Today, Neurotrack has announced the release of its first product, Neurotrack’s Imprint™, a digital cognitive assessment test that will enable earlier and more effective evaluation of patients who may be at risk for cognitive decline and help advance research and treatment of cognitive diseases like Alzheimer’s. The company has also revealed the private beta of Neurotrack’s cognitive health product, a personalized lifestyle program that brings together the best scientific research shown to reduce the risk of cognitive decline and improve overall cognitive health.
Also announced today, Neurotrack has raised $6.5 million in new funding led by Khosla Ventures and supported by Social Capital, Founders Fund, AME Cloud Ventures and iSeed Ventures. The funding will be used to accelerate research, product development, and recruiting and brings the total amount raised to $9.5 million.
Neurotrack’s Imprint™ Cognitive Assessment Test and Cognitive Health Program
Imprint™, the Neurotrack test, is a 5-minute web-based test that utilizes eye tracking technology to assess recognition memory and hippocampal impairment. The test is built on more than 30 years of research led by Neurotrack co-founder Dr. Stuart Zola, one of the country’s leading neuroscientists and researchers of cognitive decline. This research includes a five-year longitudinal study funded by the NIH, the results of which were published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias.
The test is currently being used by leading research institutions with more than 3,000 people in Alzheimer’s studies as well as in pharmaceutical trials for the development of treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. These institutions include Brown University, Emory University’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Harvard University, NYU Langone Medical Center, the Shanghai Mental Health Center and Stanford University.
The cognitive assessment test will become available through select physicians in 2016. Physicians interested in offering the Neurotrack test can learn more at www.neurotrack.com.
Neurotrack’s cognitive health program is a multipart intervention, built on lifestyle recommendations in diet, exercise, cognitive training, sleep and stress management that have been shown to prevent decline and improve cognitive scores in people at risk for impairment. The program is based on pivotal research in nutrition by Dr. Martha Clare Morris, based at ,Rush University Medical Center and Dr. Miia Kivipelto, a leading Alzheimer’s expert and Karolinska Institute professor who led the landmark Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER). To further develop and make available the program, Neurotrack has partnered with Mind Agilis, a UK-based company that has developed cognitive training tools to exercise memory, attention, problem solving, visuospatial and agility.
Neurotrack will begin running a clinical study of the cognitive health product beginning in Spring 2016; users can sign up to participate at neurotrack.com.
Of Neurotrack’s mission, Elli Kaplan, CEO and co-founder said, “Like so many others, I’ve watched loved ones suffer from Alzheimer’s and been told that there’s no way to know it’s coming and nothing anyone can do. But cutting-edge research shows this is no longer true. So we’re bringing together the best minds in cognitive research and neuroscience to provide people with the information and tools to help them take control of their futures.”
About Neurotrack
Neurotrack is a digital health company dedicated to the development of non-invasive cognitive health assessment tools that will enable earlier and more effective evaluation of patients who may be at risk for cognitive decline, and help advance research of treatments for cognitive diseases, including Alzheimer’s. The test is intended to be used by clinicians, in conjunction with other clinical information to assess cognitive health.
Neurotrack has developed the Neurotrack’s Imprint™ Cognitive Assessment Test, a 5-minute computer-based visual cognitive test that, through the tracking of eye movements, detects hippocampal abnormalities associated with cognitive impairment and validated by a five-year longitudinal NIH-sponsored study. Neurotrack is also developing a complementary computer-based cognitive health program, to support cognitive health through better nutrition, regular exercise, stress reduction, adequate sleep and “cognitive training tools” designed to preserve mental acuity.
Neurotrack is led by CEO and co-founder Elli Kaplan, and scientific co-founders Dr. Stuart Zola, Ph.D., Dr. Elizabeth Buffalo, Ph.D. and Cecelia Manzanares. For more information and to learn how you can get involved, please visit www.neurotrack.com.
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Press Contact:
The Hatch Agency
Nell Frabotta, 202-257-2334
Neurotrack@thehatchagency.com