ArticleBrain and behavior2021
Naturalistic smartphone keyboard typing reflects processing speed and executive function.
Article in Brain and behavior, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Diagnostic accuracy of keystroke dynamics as digital biomarkers for fine motor decline in neuropsychiatric disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2022Pooled it
- AI-enabled digital phenotyping for Alzheimer's disease: a review of multimodal sensor integration and symptom trajectories.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2026Review
- Patterns of smartphone typing performance by time awake: implications for unobtrusive ambulatory mental fatigue assessment.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Digital tools for assessing bipolar disorder: A scoping review of the current landscape.Neuroscience applied · 2026Article
- Keying Into Cognition: Temporal Smoothing of Smartphone Typing Behaviors for Passive Assessment of Processing Speed and Executive Function in Individuals With Mood Disorders.Cognitive computation · 2026Article
- Unobtrusive inference of diurnal rhythms from smartphone data.NPJ digital medicine · 2025Review
- Examining Smartphone-assessed Executive Function Metrics and Intrinsic Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Depression.Research square · 2025Article
- Predicting cognitive functioning in mood disorders through smartphone typing dynamics.Journal of psychopathology and clinical science · 2025Article
- Mobile Typing as a Window into Sensorimotor and Cognitive Function.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Unobtrusive inference of circadian rhythms from smartphone data.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Utility of Digital Phenotyping Based on Wrist Wearables and Smartphones in Psychosis: Observational Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Observational
- A New Smartphone-Based Cognitive Screening Battery for Multiple Sclerosis (icognition): Validation Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Assessment of cognitive function in bipolar disorder with passive smartphone keystroke metadata: a BiAffect digital phenotyping study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- The implementation of digital biomarkers in the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of mood disorders: a narrative review.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Review
- Mobility-Based Smartphone Digital Phenotypes for Unobtrusively Capturing Everyday Cognition, Mood, and Community Life-Space in Older Adults: Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Validity Study.JMIR human factors · 2024Article
- Exploring current smartphone-based cognitive assessments in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.Schizophrenia research. Cognition · 2024Review
- Smartphone keyboard dynamics predict affect in suicidal ideation.NPJ digital medicine · 2024Article
- Smartphone keyboard dynamics predict affect in suicidal ideation.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2023Article
- A Review on Smartphone Keystroke Dynamics as a Digital Biomarker for Understanding Neurocognitive Functioning.Brain sciences · 2023Review
- Objective Evaluation of Active Interactions between the Operator and Display Screen Equipment Using an Innovative Acquisition System.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe increase in smartphone usage has enabled the possibility of more accessible ways to conduct neuropsychological evaluations. The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of using smartphone typing dynamics with mood scores to supplement cognitive assessment through trail making tests.
methodsUsing a custom-built keyboard, naturalistic keypress dynamics were unobtrusively recorded in individuals with bipolar disorder (n = 11) and nonbipolar controls (n = 8) on an Android smartphone. Keypresses were matched to digital trail making tests part B (dTMT-B) administered daily in two periods and weekly mood assessments. Following comparison of dTMT-Bs to the pencil-and-paper equivalent, longitudinal mixed-effects models were used to analyze daily dTMT-B performance as a function of typing and mood.
resultsComparison of the first dTMT-B to paper TMT-B showed adequate reliability (intraclass correlations = 0.74). In our model, we observed that participants who typed slower took longer to complete dTMT-B (b = 0.189, p < .001). This trend was also seen in individual fluctuations in typing speed and dTMT-B performance (b = 0.032, p = .004). Moreover, participants who were more depressed completed the dTMT-B slower than less depressed participants (b = 0.189, p < .001). A practice effect was observed for the dTMT-Bs.
conclusionTyping speed in combination with depression scores has the potential to infer aspects of cognition (visual attention, processing speed, and task switching) in people's natural environment to complement formal in-person neuropsychological assessments that commonly include the trail making test.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.