A cognitive test couldn’t say whether a candidate is capable of being president

Concern over President Biden’s fitness for a second term has left some voters and politicians pushing him to undergo a cognitive test. Yet one test wouldn’t provide a final word on the president’s cognitive abilities, doctors said.

Doctors use cognitive tests as a screening tool to help inform their understanding of a patient’s cognitive function. The tests are designed to assess a person’s memory, attention, executive function, language and judgment. The assessments neither provide a diagnosis nor determine with certainty whether a patient has mild cognitive impairment, doctors said. Low scores indicating signs of possible dementia could provide more of a clear signal, though not a certain diagnosis.

Doctors would have to conduct further evaluation, including commissioning more tests like a PET scan.

To date the president hasn’t said he would undergo a cognitive assessment, telling ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Friday: “I have a cognitive test every single day."

“Not only am I campaigning," Biden added, “I’m running the world."

In February, after Biden underwent his annual physical, the president’s doctors determined he didn’t need a cognitive test, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Biden’s cognitive fitness became a more prominent concern with members of his party and donors late last month after he appeared to stammer at times and, at others, appeared to lose his train of thought during a debate with former President Donald Trump. Questions over both candidates’ age—with Biden at age 81 and Trump at age 78—have been on the minds of voters for years during their presidencies and 2024 campaigns.

While Trump was in office in 2018, the former president requested and underwent a Montreal Cognitive