Berlin amnesia test

The Berlin Amnesia Test (BAT) is a standardized neuropsychological test for testing memory performance. It can be used to determine whether there is a memory disruption for new learning content. Synonymous terms are memory disorder, mnestic deficits, anterograde amnesia or disorder of short-term memory, whereby the term short-term memory must not be confused with the term working memory or short-term memory span . Memory disorders are one of the most common symptoms of cerebral neurological disorders and many psychiatric disorders. Severe and persistent memory disorders are called amnesiac syndrome.

The BAT is standardized for adolescents and adults aged 13 to 65 years. To prove its validity, numerous patient groups were examined, including patients with Korsakoff syndrome , dementia in the initial stage, hypoxia, traumatic brain injury , cerebrovascular diseases and alcohol addiction. Standard value scales for all sub-tests and for four validated total scales are available to the user to evaluate the test. The additional scales are: 1. The amnesia score, with which one can decide whether a memory disorder is present and how severe it is. 2. a verbal score and a figural score, with which verbal and figural - spatial memory disorders can be recorded separately. And 3. the amnesic syndrome scale, with which an amnesic syndrome (often also referred to as Korsakoff syndrome) can be distinguished from other memory disorders. In a study it could be shown that verbal memory disorders correlate highly with left hemispherical lesions and figural-spatial memory disorders with right hemispherical lesions. In another study, a short form of the test for diagnosing an amnestic syndrome was derived. The new edition of the BAT contains all these application extensions. Since the manual evaluation of the test is quite complex, it is advisable to use the computer program developed for this purpose.

execution

According to the manual, the test consists of the following 8 sub-tests, which, depending on the application, do not always have to be carried out:

1	(Free) recall, unstructured
	The test person should memorize 20 simple nouns in three minutes and then remember them freely again, whereby the order of the words does not matter.
2	Semantic interference
	The subject is presented with a text. He should read it carefully once, grasp the content of the text and underline all the words that appeared in the list of subtest 1.
3	"Recognition and Proactive Interference"
	Another word list with 15 simple nouns is presented to the test person twice for memorization. Then he is shown words one after the other and he has to decide which of the words was in the learning list and which was not. In addition to new words, the test list contains not only the words from the 2nd learning list, but also those from sub-test 1. It is checked how many words from the second learning list are correctly recognized and how many words from the first learning list have been incorrectly specified (proactive interference) .
4th	Pattern recognition
	The test person is shown a learning card with a pattern of black squares. The presentation time is five seconds. Then the card is covered with another card (Reconition card) that contains three similar patterns and the pattern presented. The test person should show the target pattern. A total of ten different flashcards are presented.
5	Short term memory span
	Sequences of digits are spoken by the experimenter. Have the subject listen carefully and repeat the digits in the correct order immediately after the experimenter has spoken them. The first two sequences of digits contain three digits. If a sequence of digits with k digits is spoken correctly, the next attempt is made with sequences of digits of length k + 1. If neither of the two digit sequences can be repeated correctly, the sub-test is ended. The number of digits in the longest remembered sequence of digits is noted as the raw value.
6th	Sample recall
	The 10 cards from subtest 4 are shown again. The presentation time for a card is 5 seconds. Immediately after the presentation of the respective card, the test person should recreate the pattern from memory with square stones.
7A	"Recall associable pattern"
	The test person is shown 10 cards with simple geometric line drawings one after the other. Each card is shown for 5 seconds. Immediately after the presentation, the test person should trace the pattern as precisely as possible. The evaluation is based on a predefined evaluation scheme, which takes the shape, angle and proportions of the lines into account.
7B	"Recall after Distractor"
	All templates from sub-test 7A are shown together for another 3 minutes. Then the test person should count backwards for one minute in two steps starting at 100 for distraction. Then he should draw all the characters he can remember again from memory.
8th	"Recall with semantic structure"
	This sub-test corresponds exactly to the 1st sub-test with one difference: the 20 nouns that the test person is supposed to memorize consist of five groups of words, each with a common generic term (e.g. animals or professions). As in sub-test 1, the words should be remembered freely after the learning phase. It is checked whether the subject can use the semantic structure, as healthy people do.

Individual evidence

1. ^ P. Metzler, W. Haas, C. Potel (2002), Memory disorders after unilateral cerebral lesions , Nervenarzt 73, pp.355-363
2. ↑ Metzler, P., Rösler, A., Siebenstädt, A. (2004). Psychometric assessment of anterograde memory disorders in amnesiac syndrome. "Z. f. Neuropsychology, 15 (1), 23–40 "
3. ↑ Peter Metzler, Jürgen Voshage, Petra Rösler (2010) Berliner Amnesietest (BAT), Hogrefe: Göttingen (2nd edition)