Screening executive function and global cognition with the Nine‐Card Sorting Test: healthy participant studies and ageing implications

Abstract

By considering both the statistical nature of the present dependent variable (number of completed categories) and the clear-cut performance of the different samples studied, this neuropsychological test can be defined as a categorical screening for executive function and global cognition. This is advantageous for reporting risk. Of the whole sample, the 25th percentile (score = 1) represented a valid index for possible deficits. Ageing questions are highlighted. The test is also fruitful for studies on visuospatial organization and its facilitatory and inhibitory mechanisms.

Relación entre el informe del cuidador sobre el habla espontánea del paciente y la Evaluación Breve de la Afasia

“…The present findings support the hypothesis that the use of efficient categorical scales may be a good option when the benefits outweigh the costs; when it can be proved that few categories transmit relevant information, in view of the number of psychological and sample attributes that those categories encompass (9) .…”

“…Although it is necessary (and methodologically correct) to verify the properties of both approaches, only the second approach has been more widely spread. Nevertheless, there are some studies which verify the relevance of the first approach, with good results (6)(7)(8)(9)(10) . The premise guiding the first approach would be: if simple measures with very few items per function can prove validity as representatives of more extensive functions, it increases the probability of constructing multivariate or multifunctional instruments (also characterized for their efficiency) composed of a variety of these simpler measures.…”

“…Within the non-verbal function, for example, it has previously been proved (9) that a short scale, consisting of only four categories of evaluation (from 0 to 3), was sufficient to classify interest groups, thus demonstrating the validity of the scale, among other psychometric properties. Following such model, this study intends to analyze the relevance or concurrent validity of a single item of the caregiver's interview, consisting of four questions and four final categories of evaluation referred to the verbal function of the patient, through its relationship with multiple reliable and valid measurements of aphasia.…”

Neurocognitive Implications of Tangential Speech in Patients with Focal Brain Damage

“…(The authors also suggest employing a neurocognitive battery to elucidate this question in further studies.) Given that, in the present study, TSP and non-TSP showed differences in global cognition, and that global cognition and executive functioning are closely related [49,56], it cannot be discarded that TSP showed impairment in executive function compared with non-TSP. In line with this notion, Barbey et al [9] suggest that core elements of discourse processing emerge from a distributed network of brain regions that support specific competencies for executive, social and emotional processes (see also [69][70][71][72][73]).…”

“…The present study is part of a bigger research project which aims at developing efficient tests, that is, brief and/or easy to apply neuropsychological techniques without neglecting the goals of accuracy and validity (see, e.g., [49][50][51]). Since theory and validity are interlaced, it is expected that the present data are not only useful to hypothesize about the bases of TS, but also to explore the viability, validity and reliability of the present scale to assess TS in a natural situation, by the bedside of the patient.…”