What Is Montreal Cognitive Assessment? Trump Aced Mental Health Test, Doctor Says

President Donald Trump has “no cognitive or mental issues whatsoever,” his physician Dr. Ronny Jackson announced Tuesday.

In what seemed like a move to put rumors surrounding Trump’s mental health to rest, Jackson revealed the results of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test that the president reportedly scored full marks on.

Jackson said he was initially not going to perform a cognitive assessment of the president as he thought it was not necessary. Trump, however, requested that the test be conducted. "He actively asked me to include that in it so we did," Jackson said Tuesday in a White House press conference where he revealed the results of the president's physical exam.

The test was designed as a rapid screening tool for mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a clinical state that in most cases advances to become dementia. The test is scored out of 30 points and takes about 10 minutes to complete, according to a paper published on the test.

Questions in the test Trump took include drawing a line going from a number to a letter in ascending order—1 −A- 2- B- 3- C- 4- D- 5- E being the correct order—and the subject is given one point for getting it right.

Another question asks the subject to replicate the drawing cube and a clock with a specific time shown on it, as accurately as possible, to test their visuoconstructional skills. Several animals, like a lion, a rhinoceros and a camel were asked to be named by Trump in the test.

Further, questions to test the subject’s memory, ability to pay attention, mathematics skills, are asked. Sentence repetition and verbal fluency are tested in the language department. Abstract thought is then tested by the doctor, who asks the subject to explain what a specific pair of words have in common. For example, what a banana and an orange have in common. He also has to recall words uttered by the physician during the memory test with no cues, so delayed recall can be tested.

Trump, according to Jackson scored 30/30 in the test, which, Jackson said he had never administered on any president he attended to over the years.

"He has gone above and beyond what I would consider a requirement to demonstrate his cognitive abilities," Jackson said and added about the exam: “It does rule out the need to do any other cognitive assessment.”

Several mental health experts have expressed their doubts about Trump’s mental health since he assumed office and said his deteriorating vocabulary was an indication of cognitive decline. Last week, a group of mental health professionals sent a public letter to Jackson, requesting he test Trump's cognitive abilities.

The letter, in part, read: "As such, your examination should include an evaluation of the 71-year old President’s neurological health, including cognitive and mental health functions. Without performing an evaluation of this kind, President Trump would be receiving care that is inadequate to the standard care regularly administered to millions of Americans covered by Medicare. Equally important, without this evaluation, the American people will not have a clear understanding about the health and well-being of the President, which is essential for Americans to know of any president."

They also advised that the examination the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and “as thorough a neurological examination as you can perform given your specialty as an internist.”