Trail making test: normative values from 287 normal adult controls

Giovagnoli, Anna Rita; Pesce, M. Del; Mascheroni, S.; Simoncelli, M.; Laiacona, Marcella; Capitani, Erminio

doi:10.1007/bf01997792

Cited by 937 publications

(655 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Part A of the Trail Making Test (Trails A) contains only numbered circles whereas Part B (Trails B) includes both numbered and lettered circles and requires alternation between number and letter while connecting the circles in the correct order. Both parts require visual scanning ability, motor speed and dexterity, and correlate well with other tests of speeded processing, but Part B is also considered a measure of cognitive flexibility, alternating attention, and ability to inhibit a dominant but incorrect response (Kortte, Horner, & Windham, 2002;Strauss et al, 2006).The Trail Making Test is reliable, valid, and sensitive to neurological impairment and brain damage (Giovagnoli et al, 1996;Lezak et al, 2004). Calculating the difference in completion time between Part B and Part A (Trails B -Trails A) is suggested for interpretation of executive deficits and eliminating the influence of visual and motor abilities on performance (Strauss et al, 2006).…”

Section: Assessmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of decision-making on the Iowa Gambling Task: Independent effects of lifetime history of substance use disorders and performance on the Trail Making Test

Barry

Petry

2008

Brain and Cognition

110

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Poor decision-making and executive function deficits are frequently observed in individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs), and executive deficits may contribute to poor decision-making in this population. This study examined the influence of lifetime history of an alcohol, cocaine, heroin, or polysubstance use disorder on decision-making as measured by the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) after controlling for executive ability, demographic characteristics, and current substance use. Participants (131 with lifetime history of SUD and 37 controls) completed the IGT and two neuropsychological tests: the Trail Making Test and the Controlled Oral Word Association Test. Control participants performed significantly better than those with a lifetime SUD history on the IGT, but performance on the neuropsychological tests was comparable for the two groups. A lifetime SUD diagnosis was associated with performance on the IGT after controlling for covariates, and Trail Making Test performance was associated with IGT performance in both SUD and control participants.

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Section: Assessmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of decision-making on the Iowa Gambling Task: Independent effects of lifetime history of substance use disorders and performance on the Trail Making Test

Barry

Petry

2008

Brain and Cognition

110

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“…Most studies have examined how age affects the time to complete TMT-A and TMT-B; [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] these studies have concluded that the time for TMT completion increases with age. In contrast, conclusions regarding the influence of educational level on the TMT have been inconsistent between studies; some studies have shown that educational level affects both parts of the TMT, [11][12][13][14]16,19 with the time for completion of TMT-A and TMT-B being shorter for persons of higher educational level, but four studies have found that education affects only TMT-B. 15,17,18,20 However, these latter studies included participants with relatively high educational levels only, suggesting that the effects in a population with a relatively low educational level were not fully investigated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of age and education on the Trail Making Test and determination of normative data for Japanese elderly people: The Tajiri Project

Hashimoto

Meguro

Lee

et al. 2006

Psychiatry Clin Neurosci

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The Trail Making Test (TMT) is a common two-part neuropsychological test, in which visuospatial ability (TMT-A) and executive function (TMT-B) are evaluated. Normative data for this test have not been reported for Japanese subjects; therefore, the purpose of the present paper was to investigate the effect of age and education on the TMT in 155 healthy elderly adults with clinical dementia rating 0 (healthy). The participants were classified into three groups based on age (70-74 years, 75-84 years and ≥85 years), and also into three groups based on educational level (6 years, 8 years and ≥10 years). The time to complete TMT-A and TMT-B were measured, and the difference in score between TMT-A and TMT-B (B-A) and the ratio of the score (B/A) were calculated as indices of executive function. The time for completion of both parts of the TMT increased markedly in the ≥85-years group. For TMT-A, there was a significant difference between the 6-years and 8-years groups, and between the 6-years and ≥10-years groups, and for TMT-B, there was a significant difference between the 6-years and ≥10-years groups, and between the 8-years and ≥10-years groups. The difference and ratio scores increased in the ≥85-years group, but the educational level did not significantly influence these scores. Our data suggest that cognitive functions evaluated by TMT-A and TMT-B are not affected by aging until the subjects are ≥85 years old. For TMT-A, an educational effect becomes apparent when the population includes poorly educated subjects, but this part of the test is not affected by educational level provided that the subjects have some education (>6 years). The time to complete TMT-B is affected by educational level, consistent with previous reports. However, when adjusted using the results for TMT-A [(B-A) or (B/A)], the educational effect on executive function disappeared. Thus, the effect of educational level on executive function was unclear in normal elderly subjects.

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“…Aetiology: A= ruptured angioma, An= ruptured aneurysm, H= haermorrhage, I= ischemia, SAH= Subarachnoid hemorrhage;TBI= traumatic brain injury; Lesion site: F= frontal, P= parietal, O= occipital, T= temporal, AX= axonal damage; Lesion side: L= left, R= right; 1 multiple left sided parafalcine lesions; 2 immediately post-onset (13 months before entering the experiment) performance was right27 left19, indicative of a neglect which recovered over time; NA= movement impairment; *performance below cut-off score (i.e. abnormal) a (Basso, Capitani, & Laiacona, 1987); b (Carlesimo, Caltagirone, & Gainotti, 1996) ; c (Capasso & Miceli, 2001); d (Giovagnoli et al, 1996); e (Della Sala, MacPherson, Phillips, Sacco, & Spinnler, 2003); f (Wilson, Cockburn, & Halligan, 1987); g (Morris, 1993); h (Katz, Ford, Moskowitz, Jackson, & Jaffe, 1963). = 4.301, p < 005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(ii) executive function: verbal fluency (Carlesimo, Caltagirone & Gainotti, 1996), trail making B-A (Giovagnoli et al, 1996), cognitive estimates (Della Sala, MacPherson, Phillips, Sacco & Spinnler, 2003), (iii) visuospatial attention: star cancellation (Wilson, Cockburn & Halligan, 1987) and (iv) processing speed: trail making A (Giovagnoli et al, 1996). All patients presented with clear evidence of the classical amnesic syndrome characterized by intact immediate verbal recall, as assessed via forward digit span (Carlesimo et al, 1996) but severely impaired LTM, as assessed via word list learning (i.e.…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual complexity accentuates picture-description deficit in amnesia.

Dewar¹,

Neroni²,

Zeman³

et al. 2017

Neuropsychology

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Objective: A recent study indicated that amnesic patients have difficulties not only in describing past and imagined scenarios, but also in describing pictures that are in full view. This finding suggests that impaired memory hampers descriptions of scenarios more broadly. However, no such impairment in picture description in amnesic patients was observed in a related study. One key methodological difference between these studies was the complexity of the pictures to be described, hinting that group differences might be marked only if pictures are sufficiently complex to tax aspects of memory. Method: To test this complexity hypothesis, we examined whether differences in picture description between amnesic patients and controls increase with increasing picture complexity. As in previous studies, we also assessed our participants’ ability to describe imagined scenarios. Results: Amnesic patients reported significantly fewer elements than did controls when describing pictures and imagined scenarios. The group difference in picture description was significantly larger for complex than for simple pictures. Conclusion: Although variations in lesion sites might have accounted for the aforementioned cross-study differences in picture description in amnesic patients, our results suggest that, at least in amnesic patients with extramedial temporal lobe lesions, the complexity of pictures can determine whether or not a (substantial) picture-description deficit is observed. We interpret these findings in terms of a narrative-construction deficit. We hypothesize that, whereas brief narrative can be constructed via nonmemory cognitive processes, the construction of more detailed narrative depends upon intact functioning of a temporary memory system, such as the episodic buffer.

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Trail making test: normative values from 287 normal adult controls

Cited by 937 publications

References 21 publications

Predictors of decision-making on the Iowa Gambling Task: Independent effects of lifetime history of substance use disorders and performance on the Trail Making Test

Predictors of decision-making on the Iowa Gambling Task: Independent effects of lifetime history of substance use disorders and performance on the Trail Making Test

Effect of age and education on the Trail Making Test and determination of normative data for Japanese elderly people: The Tajiri Project

Visual complexity accentuates picture-description deficit in amnesia.

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