How typing patterns provide insight into brain health, with attention to privacy and scientific support
Fine motor skills and typing patterns provide subtle signals of cognitive functioning
The Neurokeys keyboard measures how someone types, not what someone types
The technology is based on scientific research from academic centers
Typing behavior can reveal changes over time
Privacy and data security are central to the design
Within Remind, Neurokeys is an additional signal domain within the personal brain profile
Research shows that changes in fine motor skills:
can occur early in cognitive decline
are associated with conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's
often progress subtly and gradually
Typing patterns therefore form a valuable digital biomarker. They capture signals that naturally arise in daily interaction with technology, without extra burden for the user.
Scientific studies show that this type of measurement is particularly suitable for monitoring and tracking changes over time.
The Neurokeys keyboard is a special software keyboard that provides insight into fine motor skills and typing behavior. It is used on the smartphone and replaces the standard keyboard.
During regular typing, certain characteristics are measured, such as:
typing speed
timing between keystrokes
variation in rhythm
stability of motor movements
These patterns indicate something about the coordination between motor skills, attention, and cognitive processing.
Importantly, the keyboard does not analyze content. It is solely concerned with how someone types, not what someone types.
Neurokeys works in the background while someone uses their phone normally. There is no need for a separate test or task.
Technically, the following occur:
anonymous timing data is recorded
patterns are analyzed over a long period
changes are monitored compared to one's own baseline
The strength lies in the longitudinal nature. Not one measurement is decisive, but the development of patterns over time.
The way you type (not what you type) says a lot about your brain health.
The Neurokeys keyboard works with a trained algorithmic model that recognizes patterns in how someone types. Such a model does not learn via fixed rules but by analyzing examples. During the development phase, it was trained with large amounts of typing data, linked to research and clinical contexts, to learn which variations in rhythm, timing, and consistency are meaningful.
Importantly, Neurokeys does not look at what you type, but solely at how you type. Content, words, and sentences are not analyzed or stored. The model operates entirely on timing and rhythm.
This type of technology is currently mainly applied within research and clinical environments, for example, in clinical trials where long-term and consistent monitoring is essential.
Remind makes this scientifically studied method easily accessible for the first time in an application that can be used directly by consumers. By measuring passively and repeatedly, it provides insight into changes over time, matching how cognitive and motor changes develop in practice: gradually and subtly.
What is measured:
speed and rhythm of typing
variation in keystrokes
stability of motor patterns
What is not measured:
content of messages
words, sentences, or language use
contacts, conversations, or apps
The technology is specifically designed to protect privacy and only use functional signals.
Privacy is an essential part of Neurokeys.
Therefore, the following applies:
no storage of text or content
data is processed anonymously
only aggregated patterns are used
data is securely stored according to applicable standards
Users always maintain control over usage and can disable the keyboard at any time.
Example of the LIBRA lifestyle test in the Remind app
Remind combines multiple domains to better understand changes in brain health.
Remind operates from a multi-modal approach. Cognitive change cannot be captured in a single test or signal.
By combining:
fine motor skills via Neurokeys
memory and cognitive tasks
speech analysis
daily skills
lifestyle and behavior
a more complete and reliable picture of brain health emerges. Each domain reinforces the interpretation of the others.
The Neurokeys keyboard uses everyday smartphone usage to make subtle signals about brain health visible.
Without additional tests, with respect for privacy, and always in combination with other measurements, it contributes to a better understanding of cognitive change over time.
Are you interested in the other assessments we offer at Remind? Read more here:
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