The Assessment of Specific Neuropsychological Skills Using Scales Derived from Factor Analysis of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery

The major scales of the Luria--Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery have been factor analyzed in a series of recent studies. These factors tend to be organized around one or two basic neuropsychological skills. The present study developed 30 scales of items loading heavily on those factors and determined performance norms on the scales on a group of 81 normal subjects. The Luria--Nebraska Battery was administered to eight groups of subjects with brain-damage localized to the frontal, sensorimotor, parietal-occipital or temporal areas of the right or left hemisphere. The performance of each of these groups on the 30 factor scales is described. The factor scales appear to facilitate assessment of specific skill deficits and appear potentially useful for both diagnosis and rehabilitation.