LAUSR

Converging evidence suggests that cognitive resources are limited and depletable. In this opinion paper we will describe how to exploit these characteristics at the clinical level. By using demanding tasks that require participants to fully engage their attentional resources (e.g., dual-tasks), it is more likely to reveal the presence of subtle motor and cognitive deficits and thus achieve high diagnostic and prognostic power. We will describe the potential this approach has for detecting and predicting cognitive deficits along a continuum from normal to pathological functioning, in apparently healthy aging as well as in neuropsychological cases. In addition, we will highlight that thesemore sensitive tasks are also better suited tomimic those complex everyday life contexts where patients, often unaware of their difficulties, are unable to compensate for their deficit. The case for depletion of cognitive resources as a clinical heuristic/tool is discussed.