NEUROPSI ATTENTION AND MEMORY: A Neuropsychological Test Battery in Spanish with Norms by Age and Educational Level

Abstract

Health care professionals are now faced with a growing number of patients from different ethnic groups, and from different socioeconomical backgrounds. In the field of neuropsychology there is an increasing need of reliable and culturally fair assessment measures. Spanish is the official language in more than 20 countries and the second most spoken language in the world. The purpose of this research was to develop and standardize the neuropsychological battery NEUROPSI ATTENTION AND MEMORY, designed to assess orientation, attention and concentration, executive functions, working memory and immediate and delayed verbal and visual memory. The developmental sequences of attention and memory as well as the educational effects were analyzed in a sample of 521 monolingual Spanish Speaking subjects, aged 6 to 85 years. Educational level ranged from 0 to 22 years of education. The consideration of the developmental sequence, and the effects of education, can improve the sensitivity and specificity of neuropsychological measures.

Key words:

• age
• attention
• culture
• educational level
• memory
• neuropsychological test
• Spanish-speaking norms

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was partially supported by a grant given to the Laboratory of Psychophysiology and Neuropsychology (Dr. Feggy Ostrosky-Solis), National University of Mexico, by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT-38570-H) and Programa de Apoyo a Proyectos de Investigación e Innovación Teconlógica (PAPIIT IN-308500).