Neuropsychological Assessment of Executive Functions
The neuropsychological assessment of the cognitive processes supported by the frontal lobes, among them the executive functions (EF), continues to be a challenge both in clinical settings and in neuropsychological research. The diversity of concepts and theoretical approaches to EF reflects the little consensus about the processes involved in the regulation of cognition, behavior and emotions, which in turn implies a difficulty in their measurement. In adults, damage to the frontal lobes conveys heterogeneous and important consequences that affect behavior and cognition, ranging from deficits of emotion regulation and social behavior, to deficits in abstract thinking and metacognition. Cognitive assessment, of both healthy and pathological populations, requires the use of objective and reliable neuropsychological instruments designed and adapted to appropriately evaluate the populations we are interested in. Moreover, appropriate normative data must be developed in order to establish an accurate clinical picture about the nature of the impairments. Therefore, it is important to have neuropsychological tests that are developed and standardized for Spanish-speaking populations. In this context, we describe two instruments: the Neuropsychological Battery of Executive Functions and Frontal Lobes, the tests included in the battery were selected and organized based on the anatomo-functional criterion and in relation to the relative lower–higher complexity of the evaluated processes, and the Neuropsychological Battery for Preschoolers that aims to evaluate the normal and pathological course of the neuropsychological development of various cognitive processes in the preschool stage, among them, EF.
KeywordsNeuropsychological assessment Executive functions Adults Spanish-speaking population Normative data
This work was partially supported by PAPIIT UNAM (IN302016)
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