Clues to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s From How You Use Your Computer

A study involving the Microsoft search engine Bing shows how artificial intelligence might detect medical conditions traditional medicine misses

How you type or move a mouse could help detect whether you have a serious disease like Parkinson’s.

A Duke University doctor working with Microsoft researchers sifted through data on the physical movements of computer users that came from millions of internet searches. Their study found links between some behaviors—such as tremors when using a mouse, repeat queries and average scrolling velocity—and Parkinson’s disease. They used artificial intelligence, or a computer analysis, to identify which of the metrics separated a...