The overall goal is to develop unified/integrated methods and measures of cognitive, emotional, motor, and sensory health for use in large cohort studies and clinical trials. Such measures are rarely included in studies of this type, due in no small part to the lack of instruments that are well-validated and have a short administration time;further, where such domains are sampled, the heterogeneity of measures hinders the ability to compare data readily across studies. With an available toolbox of measures, yields from these large and very expensive studies can be maximized by allowing a much larger number of important research questions regarding neurological and behavioral health to be studied -both with respect to the primary study aims, and to those arising from secondary data analyses -with a minimal increment in subject burden and cost. By ensuring that the assessment methods are capable of comparison to existing and completed studies and can incorporate modifications/iinprovements in the future, a truly """"""""economic"""""""" and valuable resource for the entire neuroscience community will result. The resultant integrated assessment instrument, with its focus on multiple indicators of neurological arid behavioral health functioning, will serve as a national resource for the scientific community and across the NIH. Advances in psychometric/educational testing research methodology, including computerized adaptive testing and real-world simulation (virtual reality), may lead to more efficient, flexible and responsive assessment of cognitive, emotional, sensory and motor function in a variety of settings. Thus, it is the intent of this initiative that integration of statistical techniques (e.g., item response theory) with advanced technological approaches (e.g., computer adaptive testing) be fully exploited and that a measurement tool is developed that has the capability of being adapted over time in response to advances in science and/or advances in technology to the extent possible.
