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Utility of the CANTAB battery in functional neuroimaging
Authors:
Lee, A. C. H. OWEN, A. M., Rogers, R., Sahakian, B. J., Robbins, T.W.
Reference:
In M. Ernst & J.M. Rumsey (Eds.), Functional Neuroimaging in child psychiatry, 366-378. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
Year of publication:
2000
CBU number:
3839
Abstract:
The design, theoretical rationale, and validation of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) are described. The utility of the battery for functional neuroimaging studies is examined, based on its links with animal neuropsychological research, its decomposition of complex tests of cognition into their constituent parts, and its validation in patient groups with defined brain lesions. The use of selected tests from the battery is then surveyed, including the Tower of London test of planning; tests of spatial span and self-ordered working memory; a rapid visual information processing test of sustained attention; a delayed-matching-to-sample test of visual recognition, and a test of attentional set-shifting. Each paradigm is shown to be associated with distinct neural networks of elevated regional cerebral blood flow using positron emission tomography based on H2150. The use of these paradigms to delineate impaired neural networks in depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders is described. The final discussion assesses the prospects of future applications, including the use of other neuroimaging paradigms, such as functional MRI and PET ligand displacement methods.
