Factor Analysis of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery III: Writing, Arithmetic, Memory, Left, and Right.

In recent years, Golden and his associates have devised and presented a standardized version of Luria\u27s neuropsychological examination. One of the main advantages of this battery over Luria\u27s more qualitative approach is the possibility of examining a number of the theoretical statements made by Luria concerning the relationship of basic psychological skills which make up the tests in each of ten major areas of neuropsychological function. The present paper is the third in a series which examined some of the interrelationships among items on the standardized battery and then compared them to Luria\u27s theoretical structures. To do this, the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery was administered to a mixed neurological, psychiatric and normal population of 270 individuals. From the results of these tests, principle axis factor analyses (with communalities on the diagonal) were done on five scales (Writing, Memory, Arithmetic, Left, and Right) and obliquely rotated to the simplest solution. The resulting factors were found, in general, to conform to the factors predicted by Luria\u27s theory. The interpretation of each factor found is discussed, as well as its implication

Relationship of Age and Education to Performance on a Standardized Version of Luria\u27s Neuropsychological tests in Different Patient Populations.

A.R. Luria, a Russian neuropsychologist, developed many qualitative bedside tests that have been effective in the diagnosis and localization of neurological disorders. Recently, a standardized and objectively-scored version of Luria\u27s tests has been developed. Knowledge of the effects of patient age and education on neuro-psychological test performance has been found crucial in the neurodiagnostic decision-making process. The present study examined the effects of patient age(younger subjects between 20 and 40 years and older subjects between 50 and 70 years of age), education (grade school, high school, and post-high school), and diagnosis (normal, schizophrenic, brain damaged) on 14 standardized Luria measures. A weighted means analysis of variance found 11 significant age effects, 14 significant educational effects, and 14 significant effects diagnosis. One significant interaction was found between education and diagnosis, the results support the contention that with appropriate age and educational corrections, the standardized Luria battery would satisfy the need for a short, objectively scored, and diagnostically effective neuropsychological battery

Factor Analysis of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery. I. Motor, Rhythm, and Tactile Scales.

In recent years, Golden and his associates have devised and presented a standardized version of Luria\u27s neuropsychological examination. One of the main advantages of this battery over Luria\u27s more qualitative approach is the possibility of examining a number of the theoretical statements made by Lauria concerning the relationship of basic psychological skills which make up the tests in each of ten major areas of neuropsychological function. The present paper is an initial attempt to examine some of the interrelationships among items on the standardized battery and to compare these to Luria\u27s theoretical structures. To do this the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery was administered to a mixed neurological, psychiatric and normal population of 272 individuals. From the results of study of these patients, principle axis factor analyses with communalities on the diagonal) were done on three scales (Motor, Rhythm, Tactile) and obliquely rotated to the simplest solution. The resulting factors were found, in general, to conform to the factors predicted by Luria\u27s theory. The interpretation of each factor found is discussed, as well as its implication. Future papers are planned to deal with the factor structure of further scales on the standardized battery

The Use of a Standardized Battery of Luria\u27s Test in the Diagnosis of Lateralized Cerebral Dysfunction

The present study was designed to examine the capability of a standardized battery of Luria\u27s qualitative neuropsychological techniques in discriminating between right, left and diffuse brain-injured subjects. A total of sixty medically confirmed brain-damaged subjects were equally divided among the three groups. Subjects were assigned to two groups (right, left) according to medically proven lateralized brain injury to either the right or left hemisphere in the absence of verifiable insult to the opposite hemisphere. A third group was also selected in which medical evidence confirmed damage to both hemispheres (diffuse group). All three groups were matched for age and education. All subjects were tested on a standardized version of 269 Luria\u27s qualitative neuropsychological test items. The items were divided into 11 sections based upon Luria\u27s theory of brain function. Each of the 11 sections plus a right and a left hemisphere scale as well as an overall impairment scale yielded 14 summary measures of performance representing several areas of neuropsychological ability and overall severity of brain dysfunction. Analysis of variance and discriminant analysis were used to compare the three groups on these 14 summary measures. Analysis of variance revealed on significant difference between the three groups on the Left scale with the left group performing poorest. Discriminant analysis predicted the status of 59 of 60 subjects correctly (98% hit rate). The implication of the lack of significant simple relationships (ANOVA) and the complex interrelationships found using the discriminant analysis were discussed in terms of the support these results provide for Luria\u27s theory of brain function. The specific qualitative aspects of the test battery and their use in the diagnosis of lateralized brain injury were also discussed. Indications for future research were pointed out

Factor Analysis of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery: IV: Intelligence and Pathognomonic Scales.

This paper examined the factor structure of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery Scales Intelligence and Pathognomonic. The subjects for the study were 270 patients, including 90 normal patients, 90 psychiatric patients, and 90 neurological patients. A principal factor analysis with communalities on the diagonal and iterated to the most ideal solution was used, followed by rotation to the simplest factor structure. The analysis yielded 4 subfactors for each of the two Luria scales. On the Intelligence scale, factors were general verbal intelligence, arithmetic, a frontal verbal factor, and a right frontal sequencing factor. Analysis of the Pathognomonic scale yielded a simple perceptual/expressive factor, a construction speed factor, a basic visual/spatial factor, and a higher cognitive factor. These results were generally in accord with Luria\u27s theories

Localization of cerebral dysfunction with a standardized version of Luria\u27s Neuropsychological Battery.

Determined if the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery, a standardized, comprehensive version by C. J. Golden et al (1979) of A. R. Luria\u27s neuropsychological battery, can discriminate among patients with localized brain injuries. 24 right hemisphere and 36 left hemisphere patients were divided into 8 groups depending on hemisphere and location within the hemisphere (frontal, temporal, sensorimotor, or parietal–occipital). The average age of the sample was 42.5 yrs, with no significant differences in age or education among the groups. It was found that 14 summary scores derived from the Luria battery could identify clinical patterns characteristic of each group as well as suggest implications for modern theories of brain function. (44 ref

The Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing: examiner's manual

BACKGROUND Categorical perception for speech sounds has been demonstrated as early as infancy METHODS • Subjects • Thirty-one typically developing, right-handed, monolingual, English speaking children with normal hearing. • Neuropsychological Testing • • The phonemic (P) items consist of an 8-token continuum from /ba/ to /da/. The anchor points were synthesized using pitch, intensity, formant bandwidth and formant center frequency parameters derived from natural utterances of the syllables. The F2 transition varies continuously from a low initial value and rising slope characteristic of /ba/ continuously to a high initial value and falling slope characteristic of /da/. • The anchor points of the nonphonemic (N) continuum were created by spectrally inverting the first formants of the anchor points of the P continuum in order to disrupt their phonetic value without altering their general spectrotemporal characteristics. The spectra of the transition segment of F1 and of the steady state segment of F1 were rotated each around their mean frequency and then the segments were reconnected by lowering the rotated steady-state segment by 100 Hz. • FMRI Task • The task involves a 2-alternative forced-choice AX discrimination. The distance in acoustic space between the tokens in each pair is identical, but, for P items, two token-pairs fall within a phonemic category (1-3, 5-7) and one crosses the phonemic category boundary (3-5). • P and N stimuli were presented in alternating runs. Each run contained five discrimination pairs. Children aged 7-9 years completed four runs and those aged 10-12 completed six runs. • Categorical Perception Index (CPI) • The average percentage of within-category P items perceived as different was subtracted from the percentage of across-category P items perceived as different. The sample was divided into a Low CPI group (<70; n=14) and a High CPI group (>75; n=17). • Image Acquisition Functional Data Anatomical Data 3T GE Signa scanner, T2*-weighted GE-EPI 3D SPGR, T1-weighted 36 axial slices with 0.5 mm gap 106 axial slices TE=25ms, voxels=3.44 x 3.44 x 3.0(+0.5mm gap) voxels=0.9x1.0x1.2mm 3 Clustered Acquisition, TR=7s, Acquisition Time=2s AX discrimination performance as shown in The Low and High CPI groups did not significantly differ with regard to age, sex, or neuropsychological performance. Spearman's rho correlations between the CPI and the neuropsychological measures were not significant for the full group or the High CPI group. In the Low CPI group, the CPI was significantly correlated with reading performance (ρ =.60, p<.05), and the correlation between this index and Elision (a measure of phonological awareness approached significance (ρ=.52, p<.06). FMRI Results For the full sample, P compared with rest was associated with strong activation along the left STG/STS, with a smaller focus seen in the homologous right region. In addition, significant activation was seen in the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG), bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG; L>R), and bilateral pre-and postcentral gyri (R>L). For the N condition contrasted with rest, the IFG, STG/STS, and pre-and post-central gyri activation was significantly greater on the right. Right MFG and posterior MTG activation was also observed. The direct contrast of the P and NP conditions revealed multiple areas of greater activation during P in the left prefrontal cortex and left STG and several areas of greater activation in the right posterior cortex during NP. DISCUSSION Similar to previous findings in adults A novel and unexpected finding was the greater right lateralization with nonphonemic sounds than observed in previous studies with adults. The extent of this lateralization differed depending on the degree of categorical discrimination exhibited for phonemic sounds. Specifically, the group of Low CPI subjects exhibited more activation of left frontotemporal regions during nonphonemic perception than the High CPI group. The High CPI group activated these same regions predominantly during speech perception. These results suggest that, in childhood, greater specialization of this left frontotemporal network for the categorical perception of speech sounds may be important for the appropriate refinement of this ability. Importantly, the pattern of performance on the AX task observed in the Low CPI group is highly similar to that frequently reported in dyslexi