Academic literature on the topic 'Neuropsychological test battery'

In 1976–1978, a battery of eight neuropsychologic tests was administered to 2,123 participants in the Framingham Study aged 55 to 89 yr. The battery was designed to sample multiple areas of cognitive function including language skills, memory, learning, reproduction of designs, attention, and abstract thinking. Performance is described for several groups in this population: a large community-dwelling sample, those with hearing impairments, and those with documented strokes. Performance is described by age, sex, and education strata for the community sample. This normative information should be useful for interpreting individual test performance on neuropsychological tests.

This paper describes the development of a new generation of psychophysiological test battery to replace our first battery, the Neuropsychological Workload Test Battery (NWTB). The new battery, the Psychophysiological Assessment Test System (PATS), has a much improved user interface, expanded capabilities for use in simulator facilities, enhanced data reduction and management capabilities, and includes the ability to do statistical analysis.

The factor structure of the Luria Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (LNNB) Form II was examined. A principle components factor analysis was performed on a sample of 102 psychiatric and neurologic subjects. It was necessary to remove 45 items from the analysis due to perfect performance by most subjects. The results were orthogonally rotated to simple structure using a Varimax method of rotation, and then compared to previous LNNB Form I and Form II results. Thirty-three factors were generated in the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) . There was a very high agreement with the factors from Form I. Only one new factor was identified that didn't have a comparable Form I factor, and this factor appears to have neurological support. The similarity of the factor solutions between the two forms supports the continued use of factors derived from Form I for the interpretation of Form II, and supports the underlying structure presupposed by Lurian constructs. The present study also tested the significance of the hypothesized factor structures through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). No hypothesis about the underlying factor structure based on previous exploratory studies was supported. The CFA did suggest that the best factor solution to the LNNB Form II is one that (a) has correlated factors and (b) has items loading on more than one factor. The confirmatory results were interpreted as not supporting the current exploratory results, or the previous factor analytic results. Problems notwithstanding, researchers may be better directed to propose factor models for the LNNB that have correlated factors, and to work samples approaching the 10 to 1 recommended sample size for multivariate analysis. One conclusion that was drawn from the concurrence between the two Form II studies pertains to psychiatric populations used in both studies. It was necessary to exclude a large number of items in each study due to perfect performance by most of the subjects on those items. Most of the items removed were identical in both studies supporting the notion that a shortened version of the LNNB could be administered to psychiatric populations.

The present study was designed to assess the role of response time on the Category Test of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery (HRNB). The intent was to define the underlying constructs of the Category Test more particularly, the speed of performance by examining response time to individual slides of the Category Test.Seventy-two normal adult volunteers were administered the complete HRNB. Average response times were computed for correct (CRT), incorrect (IRT), and total (TRT) scores on the Category Test. The efficacy of using response measures (CRT, IRT, and TRT) to predict Category performance was examined in the context of other HRNB variables that loaded factorially with the Category Test, more specifically: TPT-time, memory, and location, Trails B, WAIS-R Block Design, and WAIS-R Object Assembly.A step-wise multiple regression analysis was computed using the above HRNB and response time measures to predict Category error scores. Results from this analysis indicated that TPT-location, TRT, and IRT contributed significantly (p<.05) in the prediction of Category scores. Approximately 15% of the variability in Category scores was explained by a measure of spatial memory (TPT-location) and an additional 15% was accounted for by psycho-motor speed (TRT and IRT). The significant contribution of response time in defining the underlying construct of the Category Test was discussed in terms of possible implications for enhancing the neuropsychological significance of the Category Test.

This study examined the underlying factor structure of the Nova Multilingual Neuropsychological Battery (NMNB) and evaluated the influence of demographic variables such as language fluency and acculturation on test performance. The NMNB is a comprehensive test designed to measure cognitive abilities in Spanish/English bilinguals. The instrument was developed taking into consideration cultural variables believed to influence neuropsychological test performance and it includes a Spanish and an English version. It is comprised of tasks measuring abilities such as short and long term memory, executive functioning, motor skills, visuo-spatial abilities, arithmetic, and vocabulary. The study included 155 participants (71 English monolinguals and 84 Spanish/English bilinguals). Forty-six participants from the bilingual group were tested in English and 37 were tested in Spanish. Participants were normal adults between 18 and 60 years of age who were primarily recruited from a university setting. They also completed a demographic questionnaire that included a measure of acculturation. An exploratory factor analysis was used to test the hypothesis that the subtests from NMNB would load onto five factors including language, perceptual reasoning, memory, executive functioning and psychomotor abilities. Results from four different retention models did not match the hypothesized factor structure, yet they allowed the identification of specific cognitive domains within the factors. These cognitive domains include memory, learning, executive functioning, perceptual reasoning, reading ability, and psychomotor skills. Verbal memory and learning were factors consistently identified across the retention methods. The moderation effects of language fluency and level of acculturation on test performance were examined. It was hypothesized that language fluency, as defined by performance on the Categorical Fluency subtest, on tasks measuring language abilities. It was also hypothesized that level of acculturation would moderate the performance on measures of executive functioning and perceptual reasoning abilities. These hypotheses were based on the alleged pattern of advantages and disadvantages observed in bilingual individuals according to current research studies. Results from regression analyses showed no mediation effects of language fluency and level of acculturation on test performance. Data from this study did not show the purported pattern of disadvantages of bilingualism on language abilities neither demonstrated advantages in areas such as executive functioning and working memory. Overall, the findings did not support the hypotheses of the study However, the results allowed the analyses of the utility of the instrument in the assessment of specific cognitive abilities as well as the need for developing appropriate measures for this population. Furthermore, the findings put into perspective the importance of formal and objective assessment of language abilities and level of acculturation. This study represents a significant contribution to the empirical knowledge regarding neuropsychological assessment of individuals of Hispanic backgrounds. As such, it adds to the scarce literature on this topic. Further examination of the psychometric properties of the NMNB is warranted. Future research should include a larger sample including Spanish monolinguals, older adults as well as individuals with different levels of educational attainment.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a relatively common psychiatric disorder affecting 5-10% of child and 4% of the adult population. The disorder involves both behavioural problems and cognitive deficits, which are believed to be associated with neurological differences seen in this population. There has been increasing interest in understanding the cognitive deficits and neurological basis associated with ADHD. Neuropsychological examinations are an affordable tool, which can be used to improve our understanding of the cognitive deficits associated with the disorder and aid in clinical care. Currently, there is no standardized neuropsychological assessment that can be used in this population. In order to assist in developing a sound, predominately computerized test battery, which would assess deficits commonly seen in adults with ADHD, a neuropsychological project was piloted to examine recruitment and test utility. The majority of the tests were computerized and had population norms. The test battery was piloted on 8 patients on and off medication, and 4 patients completed the test battery twice off medication to examine potential practice effects. A discussion of feasibility and utility of the neuropsychological test battery for adults with ADHD ensues.

Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (INPH) is a condition affecting gait, cognition and continence. Radiological examination reveals enlarged ventricles of the brain. A shunt that drains CSF from the ventricles to the abdomen often improves the symptoms. Much research on INPH has been focused on identifying tests that predict the outcome after shunt surgery. As part of this quest, there are attempts to find measurement methods of intracranial parameters that are valid, reliable, tolerable and safe for patients. Today's technologies for intracranial pressure (ICP) measurement are invasive, often requiring a burr-hole in the skull. Recently, a method for non-invasive ICP measurements was suggested: the Pulsatile Index (PI) calculated from transcranial Doppler data assessed from the middle cerebral artery. In this thesis the relation between PI and ICP was explored in INPH patients during controlled ICP regulation by lumbar infusion. The confidence interval for predicted ICP, based on measured PI was too large for the method to be of clinical utility. In the quest for better predictive tests for shunt success in INPH, recent studies have shown promising results with criteria based on cardiac related ICP wave amplitudes. The brain ventricular system, and the fluid surrounding the spinal cord are in contact. In this thesis it was shown that ICP waves could be measured via lumbar subarachnoid space, with a slight underestimation. One of the cardinal symptoms of hydrocephalus is cognitive impairment. Neuropsychological studies have demonstrated cognitive tests that are impaired and improve after shunt surgery in INPH patients. However, there is currently no standardized test battery and different studies use different tests. In response, in this thesis a fully automated computerized neuropsychological test battery was developed. The validity, reliability, responsiveness to improvement after shunt surgery and feasibility for testing INPH patients was demonstrated. It was also demonstrated that INPH patients were impaired in all subtests, compared to healthy elderly.

The present study investigated the neuropsychological predictors of auditory/verbal and visual/written arithmetic performance in a large sample of children with learning disorders. In addition, the efficacy of a cognitive based arithmetic problem solving model (Dinnel, Glover, & Halpain, in press; Dinnel, Glover, & Ronning, 1984) in accounting for neuropsychological functioning in arithmetic performance was considered. Subjects were from a small midwestern school district, and were identified as learning disabled in accord with state (i.e., Rule S-1) and federal guidelines (i.e., PL-94-142). Specifically, subjects' scores on the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery (HRNB) (Reitan, 1969) for older children and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) (Wechsler, 1974) were used to predict performance on the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) Arithmetic subtest, and WISC-R Arithmetic subtest. Analyses were conducted with criterion measures considered separately and as a composite. In an attempt to examine the utility of the Dinnel et al., (in press; 1984) model, a simple index was formed using the criterion measures. This index was then predicted using the HRNB and WISC-R variables. Neuropsychological variables were found to account for some 31%, and 36% of the variability in visual/written and auditory/verbal arithmetic performance, respectively. However, neuropsychological variables accounted for some 87% of the shared variance when arithmetic measures were considered as a linear composite. Neuropsychological variables predicted a mere 12% of the variability associated with the index designed to test the Dinnel et al. (in press; 1984) arithmetic problem solving model. These data offered some support to Dinnel and others' (Dinnel et al., in press; 1984) formulations accounting for arithmetic performance under visual/stimulus conditions. However, the present findings indicated a more complex neuropsychological underpinning for overall arithmetic problem solving. Moreover, the neuropsychological constructs predicting arithmetic scores varied as a function of the stimulus/performance modes required for problem solving.Auditory-verbal attention and short-term memory, remote verbal memory, symbolic language integration, mental flexibility, and nonverbal abstract reasoning were the common neuropsychological constructs underpinning both auditory/verbal and visual/written arithmetic performance. Verbal facility, verbal abstract reasoning, nonverbal short term memory, and nonverbal concrete concept formation were uniquely implicated in auditory/verbal arithmetic performance. Visual/written arithmetic performance was uniquely related to nonverbal attention and intermediate nonverbal memory functions. In overview, it would seem that neuropsychological measures would be clinically useful in identifying deficits underlying poor arithmetic performance.
Department of Educational Psychology

Computerised neuropsychology test batteries are becoming increasingly popular in research studies in schizophrenia, due to their highly standardised approach and non-verbal nature, which allows easier comparison across studies and in multisite trials. The Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) is a well validated computerised battery designed to assess visuo-spatial skills in: recognition memory, planning ability, working memory, strategy learning, sustained attention and attentional set shifting. This thesis explores performance on the CANTAB using two different study designs. Part one is a systematic review summarising the evidence of cognitive performance using the CANTAB in patients experiencing a first episode in schizophrenia. Studies differed along several dimensions which limited the interpretability of results and threatened validity. Important methodological differences included patient diagnosis, medicated status, CANTAB subtest used, and recruitment strategy for controls. Despite these limitations CANTAB appears to be sensitive to detecting visuo-spatial neurocognitive impairments. Part two is an empirical study investigating whether the unaffected co-twins of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia show impairment on the CANTAB. Thereby questioning whether it may be a useful tool in future endophenotype research in schizophrenia. The unaffected co-twins of patients had more subtle cognitive impairments, with monozygotic (MZ) unaffected co-twins showing a broader range of difficulties than dizygotic (DZ) co-twins. Both MZ and DZ co-twins showed impairments in pattern recognition memory and planning ability. MZ co-twins also showed impairments’ on spatial working memory and sustained attention. The CANTAB may be a useful tool in endophenotype research. Part three is a critical appraisal of the thesis, where I discuss in more detail future directions for genetic research in schizophrenia. I also describe some of the theoretical and ethical issues in neurocognitive research in schizophrenia that I struggled with while undertaking this thesis.

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the kind of neuropsychological information that can be obtained from an investigation of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) subtests. Additionally, there was an examination of the shared variance between the WAIS and the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery (HRNB). The archival data collected from the files of '220 females and 188 males from a large midwestern medical center were used. They had been originally diagnosed with objective research criteria.All eleven subtests of the WAIS and the HalsteadReitan Neuropsychological Battery were administered to the subjects in the years between 1981 and 1983. Thirteen scores were obtained from the HRNB measures. Statistical analyses of the results made use of the techniques of multiple regression and canonical correlation.The individual WAIS subtests were examined for the neuropsychological information they provided. Globally, three HRNB measures, APHASIA, RHY, AND CAT-TOT contributed significantly to a majority of the regression equations for the WAIS subtests. Their presence suggested that language skills, an auditory attention factor, and a general intellective factor were being tapped (Dean, 1985a).A canonical correlation was computed. The results yielded one significant correlation between the linear components of the WAIS and the HRNB tests. Only canonical variates with weights of +/- .2 were considered large enough for interpretation. The WAIS subtests meeting the .2 criteria included Block Design, Digit Symbol, and Similarities, while the HRNB measures meeting criteria were APHASIA and CAT-TOT. Therefore, it would appear that the significant variables measured the general (g) factor as in Spearman's research (1927). According to the Stewart and Love formula (cited in Pedhazur, 1982), the variability of the WAIS did overlap with the HRNB, and their relationship was symmetrical.This research demonstrated that the measured tasks from the WAIS were a complex of underlying constructs. The verbal portion of the WAIS was shown to be less highly related to the HRNB variables than the performance portion of the scale. The WAIS and HRNB do offer nonredundant information concerning the impaired and unimpaired adult's cognitive functioning.

Abstract Human’s motion and its mechanisms had become interesting in the last years, where the medecine’s field search for rehabilitation methods for handicapped persons. Other fields, like sport sciences, professional or military world, search to distinguish profiles and ways to train them with specific purposes. Besides, recent findings in neuroscience try to describe these mechanisms from an organic point of view. Until now, different researchs had given a model about control motor that describes how the union between the senses’s information allows adaptable movements. One of this sense is the proprioception, the sense which has a quite big factor in the orientation and position of the body, its members and joints. For this reason, research for new strategies to explore proprioception and improve the theories of human motion could be done by three different vias. At first, the sense is analysed in a case-study where three groups of persons are compared in a controlled enviroment with three experimental tasks. The subjects belong to each group by the kind of sport they do: sedentary, normal sportsmen (e.g. athletics, swimming) and martial sportmen (e.g. karate, judo). They are compared thinking about the following hypothesis: “Martial Sportmen have a better proprioception than of the other groups’s subjects: It could be due to the type of exercises they do in their sports as empirically, a contact sportsman shows significantly superior motor skills to the members of the other two groups. The second via are records from encephalogram (EEG) while the experimental tasks are doing. These records are analised a posteriori with a set of processing algorithms to extract characteristics about brain’s activity of the proprioception and motion control. Finally , the study tries to integrate graphic tools to make easy to understand final scientific results which allow us to explore the brain activity of the subjects through easy interfaces (e.g. space-time events, activity intensity, connectivity, specific neural netwoks or anormal activity). In the future, this application could be a complement to assist doctors, researchers, sports center specialists and anyone who must improve the health and movements of handicapped persons. Keywords: proprioception, EEG, assesment, rehabilitation.References: Röijezon, U., Clark, N.C., Treleaven, J. (2015). Proprioception in musculoskeletal rehabilitation. Part 1: Basic science and principles of assessment and clinical interventions. ManualTher.10.1016/j.math.2015.01.008. Röijezon, U., Clark, N.C., Treleaven, J. (2015). Proprioception in musculoskeletal rehabilitation. Part 2: Clinical assessment and intervention. Manual Ther.10.1016/j.math.2015.01.009. 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