shield suggests protective intervention in imminent danger or actual attack. shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand; guard implies protecting with vigilance and force against expected danger. White House entrances are well guarded; safeguard implies taking precautionary protective measures against merely possible danger
The test, called the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, or Moca, is a 10-minute screening exam meant to highlight possible problems with thinking and memory. But it is by no means definitive, nor even diagnostic, experts pointed out. Screening tests like these cannot rule out declines in reasoning or memory, or difficulties with planning or judgment.
For the study, the researchers conducted a cognitive test on 612 women, two-thirds of whom had been diagnosed with major depression or bipolar disorder. The test, which is designed to measure control over cognitive functions like attention and working memory, asked the women to react quickly when certain letters were flashed on a screen amid other random letters.