Better Ways to Measure Cognitive Change
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PSN Team 
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Cognitive Change
Testing new therapies for people with intellectual disability is a challenge without accurate tools to measure whether the intervention or medication works. A new study by researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute and other institutions is exploring a promising option. The NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB) is a computer or tablet-administered test showing a series of brief tasks to assess cognitive functions like attention, working memory and language. This tool would allow professionals to measure whether the intervention or medication works.
A group of 256 individuals were tested, with a portion of young people experiencing gains in cognition. They used the Toolbox to pick up on those developmental changes. To cross-validate, the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition (SB5) a long-established IQ test was also administered. Results were very promising. Overall, the developmental growth measured by the NIHTB-CB tests was similar to — or exceeded — that of the SB5, showing significant gains in almost all areas.
The participants with fragile X syndrome showed delayed gains in attention and inhibitory control compared to the group with other intellectual disabilities. Down syndrome participants had delayed gains in receptive vocabulary with significant growth in areas of attention and inhibitory control and working memory.
Other treatment studies are already using NIHTB-CB. An Alzheimer’s drug has shown to increase cognitive scores in adult males with fragile X syndrome and other possible directions for the NIHTB-CB include adapting it for use in clinics or in schools to assess patients or students.
In short, David Hessl, professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences says
“I think we have strong evidence that the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery does detect changes in cognition over time… there was enough evidence across the groups and the different tests that it’s picking up on some important elements of change.”
The research was published online on Dec. 2 in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
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This post originally appeared on our January/February 2023 Magazine
