Table 2 Arizona cognitive test battery
From: Development and validation of the Arizona Cognitive Test Battery for Down syndrome
Domain/test | Description | Primary ability assessed | Score for analysis | Test-retest r | Links to brain function | Age range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Benchmark | ||||||
KBIT-II verbal subscale (Kaufman and Kaufman 2004) | Points to pictures based on the word or phrase, answers riddles | Verbal comprehension, production | Total subscale raw | .88 | – | 4–90 years |
KBIT-II nonverbal subscale | Semantic or visuo-spatial pattern completion | Problem solving | Total subscale raw | .76 | – | 4–90 years |
Scales of independent behavior—revised (Bruininks et al. 1997) | Parent-report of everyday skills | Adaptive behavior | Standard score | .98 | – | Infancy to 80+ years |
CANTAB spatial span | Touching of boxes in order changing color on the screen, similar to CORSI span | Immediate memory for spatial-temporal sequences | Span | .64 (Lowe and Rabbitt 1998) | – | 4 years and over |
Prefrontal | ||||||
Modified dots task | Presses a button below a cat, shifts to a new rule (pressing across the screen) for a frog, shifts between rules | Inhibitory control, working memory | Percent correct trials | NA | Activates prefrontal cortex in children in fMRI studies (Davidson et al. 2006) | 4 years to late adolescence |
CANTAB IED | Forced-choice discrimination task with change in relevant dimension | Set-shifting | Errors per stage (ln transformed) | .70 (Lowe and Rabbitt 1998) | Impaired in populations with frontal deficits (e.g., autism, Ozonoff et al. 2004). Deficits are ameliorated by dopaminergic medication (Strauss et al. 2006) | 4 years and over |
Hippocampal | ||||||
CANTAB Paired Associates | Recall for hidden abstract patterns and associated locations | Spatial associative memory | Errors to success, number trials completed on first view | .87 (average trials to success, Lowe and Rabbitt 1998) | Differentiates between patients with AD and controls with 98% accuracy 18 months prior to a formal diagnosis (Swainson et al. 2001) | 4 years and over |
Virtual computer-generated arena | Navigation of a virtual arena (via joystick) to find a fixed hidden target | Spatial memory | Percent time searching target quadrant | NA | Patients with hippocampal damage impaired (Skelton et al. 2000) | 5 years and over |
Cerebellar | ||||||
Finger sequencing task (Edgin and Nadel unpublished paradigm) | Sequences generated by tapping a number of fingers (1,2,3,4) to a lever in succession | Motor sequencing | Correct sequences, total taps | 0.87, 0.91 | Finger sequencing activates cerebellum (Desmond et al. 1997) | 4 years and over |
NEPSY visuomotor precision (ages 3–4) (Korkman et al. 1998) | Follows two tracks with a pen | Visuo-motor tracking, hand-eye coordination | Total score generated from completion time and errors | 0.81 | Visuo-motor tracking utilizing coordinated hand-eye movements activates cerebellum (Miall et al. 2000) | 3–4 years |
CANTAB simple reaction time (SRT) | Participants press a button in response to a box presented on a screen | Motor response time and attention | Median correct latency | NA | Simple motor response and attention tasks activate the cerebellum in fMRI (Allen et al. 1997) | 4 years and over |