A cognitive neuroscience based computerized battery for efficient measurement of individual differences: Standardization and initial construct validation

By Ruben C. Gur, J. Richard, P. Hughett, Monica E. Calkins, Larry Macy, W. Bilker, C. Brensinger, Raquel E. Gur. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 2009

561 citations recorded by the source corpus.

There is increased need for efficient computerized methods to collect reliable data on a range of cognitive domains that can be linked to specific brain systems. Such need arises in functional neuroimaging studies, where individual differences in cognitive performance are variables of interest or serve as confounds. In genetic studies of complex behavior, which require particularly large samples, such trait measures can serve as endophenotypes. Traditional neuropsychological tests, based on clinical pathological correlations, are protracted, require extensive training in administration and scoring, and leave lengthy paper trails (double-entry for analysis). We present a computerized battery that takes an average of 1 hour and provides measures of accuracy and speed on 9 neurocognitive domains. They are cognitive neuroscience-based in that have been linked experimentally to specific brain systems with functional neuroimaging studies. We describe the process of translating tasks used in functional neuroimaging to tests for assessing individual differences. Data are presented on each test with samples ranging from 139 (81 female) to 536 (311 female) of carefully screened healthy individuals ranging in age from 18 to 84. Item consistency was established with acceptable to high Cronbach alpha coefficients. Inter-item correlations were moderate to high within domain and low to nil across domains, indicating construct validity. Initial criterion validity was demonstrated by sensitivity to sex differences and the effects of age, education and parental education. These results encourage the use of this battery in studies needing an efficient assessment of major neurocognitive domains such as multisite genetic studies and clinical trials.

Subfields: Cognitive Neuroscience, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b673df6fae5d1b48c506a5d469ceecc28adcb3fc

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In Cognitive Neuroscience

In Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Citations in the corpus

The Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort: A Publicly Available Resource for the Study of Normal and Abnormal Brain Development in Youth (2015, unknown): “As part of the PNC, the Penn CNBwas simplified for the pediatric population and shortened to a 1-hour administration time (Gur et al., 2014; Gur et al., 2012; Gur et al., 2010).”
Psychometric Properties of the Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery (2014, unknown): “…(Gur, Erwin & Gur, 1992) have been assembled into a computerized neurocognitive battery (CNB) in which these tasks have been adapted to assure adequate psychometric properties, such as reliability and validity (Gur et al., 2001, 2010) and its linkage to brain systems (Roalf, Ruparel et al., 2013).”
The Human Connectome Project: A data acquisition perspective (2012, methodology): “These include measures of attention, episodic memory, visual spatial processing, and emotional face processing as used by Gur et al. (2010); the Achenbach Adult Self Report (Achenbach et al., 2005), as used in the NKI-Rockland project (http://fcon_1000.projects.nitrc.org/indi/pro/ nki.html); and a…”
Impact of In-Scanner Head Motion on Multiple Measures of Functional Connectivity: Relevance for Studies of Neurodevelopment in Youth (2012, unknown): “All research participants undergo assessment with a structured neuropsychiatric interview, a neuroscience based computerized neurocognitive battery (Gur et al., 2010), and review of electronic medical records.”
Neuroimaging of the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort (2013, unknown): “These domains include executive control (abstraction (Gur et al., 2010) andmental flexibility, attention, workingmemory), episodic memory (verbal, facial, spatial), complex cognition (verbal reasoning, nonverbal reasoning, spatial processing), social cognition (emotion identification, emotion intens”
Human Connectome Project Informatics: quality control, database services, and data visualization (2013, methodology): “Behavioral data are collected using the web-based NIH Toolbox Assessment Center (http://www.nihtoolbox.org) and a modified web-based Penn computerized battery (Gur et al., 2001; Gur et al., 2010).”
Age group and sex differences in performance on a computerized neurocognitive battery in children age 8–21 (2012, methodology): “The Visual Object Learning Test uses euclidean shapes as stimuli with the same paradigm as the word and face memory (Glahn, Gur, Ragland, Censits, & Gur, 1997; Gur et al., 2001, 2010).”