The number of test translations and adaptations has risen exponentially over the last two decades, and these processes are now becoming a common practice. The International Test Commission (ITC) Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests (Second Edition, 2017) offer principles and practices to ensure the quality of translated and adapted tests. However, they are not specific to the cognitive processes examined with clinical neuropsychological measures. The aim of this publication is to provide a specialized set of recommendations for guiding neuropsychological test translation and adaptation procedures.

The International Neuropsychological Society’s Cultural Neuropsychology Special Interest Group established a working group tasked with extending the ITC guidelines to offer specialized recommendations for translating/adapting neuropsychological tests. The neuropsychological application of the ITC guidelines was formulated by authors representing over ten nations, drawing upon literature concerning neuropsychological test translation, adaptation, and development, as well as their own expertise and consulting colleagues experienced in this field.

A summary of neuropsychological-specific commentary regarding the ITC test translation and adaptation guidelines is presented. Additionally, examples of applying these recommendations across a broad range of criteria are provided to aid test developers in attaining valid and reliable outcomes.

Establishing specific neuropsychological test translation and adaptation guidelines is critical to ensure that such processes produce reliable and valid psychometric measures. Given the rapid global growth experienced in neuropsychology over the last two decades, the recommendations may assist researchers and practitioners in carrying out such endeavors.

Word list-learning tasks are commonly used to evaluate auditory-verbal learning and memory. However, different frequencies of word usage, subtle meaning nuances, unique word phonology, and different preexisting associations among words make translation across languages difficult. We administered lists of consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) nonword trigrams to independent American and Italian young adult samples. We evaluated whether an auditory list-learning task using CVC nonword trigrams instead of words could be applied cross-culturally to evaluate similar learning and associative memory processes.

Seventy-five native English-speaking (USA) and 104 native Italian-speaking (Italy) university students were administered 15-item lists of CVC trigrams using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test paradigm with five study-test trials, an interference trial, and short- and long-term delayed recall. Bayesian t tests and mixed-design ANOVAs contrasted the primary learning indexes across the two samples and biological sex.

Performance was comparable between nationalities on all primary memory indices except the interference trial (List B), where the Italian group recalled approximately one item more than the American sample. For both nationalities, recall increased across the five learning trials and declined significantly on the postinterference trial, demonstrating susceptibility to retroactive interference. No effects of sex, age, vocabulary, or depressive symptoms were observed.

Using lists of unfamiliar nonword CVC trigrams, Italian and American younger adults showed a similar performance pattern across immediate and delayed recall trials. Whereas word list-learning performance is typically affected by cultural, demographic, mood, and cognitive factors, this trigram list-learning task does not show such effects, demonstrating its utility for cross-cultural memory assessment.

This study aimed to compare Greek Australian and English language normative data with regard to impairment rates yielded within a healthy Greek Australian older adult sample. We also examined whether optimal cut scores could be identified and capable of sensitively and specifically distinguishing between healthy Greek Australians from those with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Ninety healthy Greek Australian older adults and 20 demographically matched individuals with a diagnosis of AD completed a range of neuropsychological measures, including the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition, Greek Adaptation (WAIS-IV GR), verbal and visual memory, language and naming, and executive functions. Impairment rates derived from the use of either Greek Australian or English language normative data were calculated and compared, using a 1.5 standard deviation criterion to denote impairment. Receiver operating characteristics curve analysis was used to investigate the sensitivity and specificity of alternate cut scores.

Impairment rates derived from the Greek Australian normative data showed that rates of impairment generally fell within the expected 7% range. In contrast, impairment rates for all tests derived using English language normative data were significantly higher and ranged from 11%–66%. Comparisons between healthy and AD participants with moderate dementia showed significant differences across all measures. Area under the curve results ranged from .721 to .999 across all measures, with most tests displaying excellent sensitivity and specificity.

English language normative data were found to be inappropriate for use with Greek Australian elders, potentially leading to erroneous diagnostic outcomes. The use of minority group specific normative data and associated cut points appear to partially ameliorate this issue. Clinical implications are discussed alongside future research directions.

To explore the relationship between age, education, sex, and ApoE4 (+) status to brain volume among a cohort with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI).

One hundred and twenty-three participants were stratified into Hispanic (n = 75) and White non-Hispanic (WNH, N = 48). Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted with age, education, sex, and ApoE4 status as predictor variables and left and right combined MRI volumes of the hippocampus, parahippocampus, and entorhinal cortex as dependent variables. Variations in head sizes were corrected by normalization with a total intracranial volume measurement.

Bonferroni-corrected results indicated that when controlling for ApoE4 status, education, and age, sex was a significant predictor of hippocampal volume among the Hispanic group (β = .000464, R2 = .196, p < .01) and the WNH group (β = .000455, R2 = .195, p < .05). Education (β = .000028, R2 = .168, p < .01) and sex (β = .000261, R2 = .168, p < .01) were significant predictors of parahippocampal volume among the Hispanic MCI group when controlling for the effects of ApoE4 status and age. One-way ANCOVAs comparing hippocampal and parahippocampal volume between males and females within groups revealed that females had significantly larger hippocampal volumes (p < .05). Hispanic females had significantly larger hippocampal (p < .001) and parahippocampal (p < .05) volume compared to males. No sex differences in parahippocampal volume were noted among WNHs.

Biological sex, rather than ApoE4 status, was a greater predictor of hippocampal volume among Hispanic and WNH females. These findings add to the mixed literature on sex differences in dementia research and highlight continued emphasis on ethnic populations to elucidate on neurodegenerative disparities.