Core cognition

Brain disorders are common, debilitating and economically crippling. Existing treatments often do not reverse underlying cognitive impairment or cannot be tolerated by patients. Our Core Cognition test battery incorporates the core cognitive domains often impaired in brain disorders, as well as those affected by cognitive enhancing drugs or interventions.

The tests in this battery are sensitive to changes in cognitive function in health and disease across the lifespan, including deficits in common brain disorders and cognitive enhancing effects of novel interventions^1-3.  The battery is sensitive to the integrity of disease-relevant brain circuitry^4-6 and is clinically relevant.

Our cognitive test batteries are quick to setup and simple to administer and have been recommended by our team of leading neuroscientists following peer-reviewed clinical research programmes.

Measures

• Sustained attention
• Processing speed
• Episodic Memory
• Working memory

CANTAB Tests

• Motor Screening Task (MOT): 2 minutes
• Reaction Time (RTI): 3 minutes
• Paired Associates Learning (PAL): 8 minutes
• Spatial Working Memory (SWM): 4 minutes
• Rapid Visual Information Processing (RVP): 7 minutes

Key References

Kessler RC, Aguilar-Gaxiola S, Alonso J, Chatterji S, Lee S, Ustün TB. The WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys. Psychiatrie (Stuttg). 2009 Jan 1; 6(1):5-9

Sahakian B, Bruhl AB, Cook J, Killikelly C, Savulich G, Piercy T, Hafizi S, Perez J, Fernandez-Egea E, Suckling J, Jones PB. The impact of neuroscience on society: cognitive enhancement in neuropsychiatric disorders and in healthy people. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2015 Sep 19;370(1677):20140214.

Chamberlain SR, Robbins TW. Noradrenergic modulation of cognition: therapeutic implications. J Psychopharmacol. 2013 Aug;27(8):694-718.

Blackwell AD. Measuring cognitive effects: cognition in drug development and repositioning. Drug Discov Today. 2015 Apr;20(4):391-2.

Bushe C, Day K, Reed V, Karlsdotter K, Berggren L, Pitcher A, Televantou F, Haynes V. A network meta-analysis of atomoxetine and osmotic release oral system methylphenidate in the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adult patients. J Psychopharmacol. 2016 May;30(5):444-58.

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1. _{Chamberlain SR, Robbins TW, Winder-Rhodes S, Müller U, Sahakian BJ, Blackwell AD, Barnett JH. Translational approaches to frontostriatal dysfunction in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder using a computerized neuropsychological battery. Biol Psychiatry. 2011 Jun 15;69(12):1192-203.}
2. _{De Luca CR, Wood SJ, Anderson V, Buchanan JA, Proffitt TM, Mahony K, Pantelis C. Normative data from the CANTAB. I: development of executive function over the lifespan. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2003 Apr;25(2):242-54.}
3. _{Blackwell AD, Sahakian BJ, Vesey R, Semple JM, Robbins TW, Hodges JR. Detecting dementia: novel neuropsychological markers of preclinical Alzheimer's disease. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2004;17(1-2):42-8. Epub 2003 Oct 13.}
4. _{de Rover M, Pironti VA, McCabe JA, Acosta-Cabronero J, Arana FS, Morein-Zamir S, Hodges JR, Robbins TW, Fletcher PC, Nestor PJ, Sahakian BJ. Hippocampal dysfunction in patients with mild cognitive impairment: a functional neuroimaging study of a visuospatial paired associates learning task. Neuropsychologia. 2011 Jun;49(7):2060-70.}
5. _{Chase HW, Clark L, Sahakian BJ, Bullmore ET, Robbins TW. Dissociable roles of prefrontal subregions in self-ordered working memory performance. Neuropsychologia. 2008 Sep;46(11):2650-61.}
6. _{Robbins TW, Arnsten AF. The neuropsychopharmacology of fronto-executive function: monoaminergic modulation. Annu Rev Neurosci. 2009;32:267-87. doi: 10.1146/annurev.neuro.051508.135535. Review.}