Apple is reportedly working on dementia, autism and cognitive decline

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Apple is reportedly working on dementia, autism and cognitive decline

Apple is working on features to diagnose dementia, autism, and cognitive decline, which may develop into Alzheimer s and other kinds of dementia, according to a Tuesday report in the Wall Street Journal.

The depression and cognitive decline features would reportedly use extensive personal data collected by sensors on devices like iPhones and Apple Watches, including details of users sleep patterns, physical activity, typing behavior and more.

Apple is reportedly working on the effort alongside researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles who are studying stress, anxiety and depression. The tech giant also collaborates with drugmaker Biogen Inc. which is researching cognitive decline, according to the Journal.

A third reported collaboration, with Duke University, uses the iPhone cameras to monitor young children s emotional behavior and help them detect autism.

The projects are reportedly in early development stages and it s unclear if they will ever lead to a product which is introduced to the public.

Apple’s reported effort comes as a growing body of research in recent years shows that use of the company's own devices could be contributing to mental health issues.

A 2019 study from researchers at the University of Arizona found that smartphone dependency among 18 to 20 year-olds predicts higher depressive symptoms and loneliness. A 2017 paper from San Diego and Florida State researchers showed that heavy use of smartphones and social media among teens was associated with higher rates of suicide and mental health issues.

Yet Apple chief operating officer Jeff Williams, who heads the company health department, has enthusiastically told employees that the company has the potential to tackle rising rates of anxiety and depression, sources told the Journal.

Any effort by Apple to find child pornographic issues would inevitably raise issues of privacy for some users — and the company has already faced an outcry this year from privacy advocates over a plan to scan users images for childhood pornography, leading Apple to postpone and modify the feature.

To address privacy concerns, Apple s algorithm would work on users phones rather than sending data to the company, according to documents reviewed by Journal.

Biogen, the company that is known to be working with Apple to detect signs of cognitive decline, is behind a controversial $56,000 Alzheimer s drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration in June. However, outside advisers to the FDA had raised concerns that the drug was ineffective and criticized the FDA's own staff for what they called an overly positive review.