The Hayling and Brixton tests
[Burgess, P. & Shallice, T. (1997) ''The Hayling and Brixton Tests. Test manual.'' Bury St Edmunds, UK: Thames Valley Test Company.] are
neuropsychological test
Neuropsychological tests are specifically designed tasks that are used to measure a psychological function known to be linked to a particular brain structure or pathway. Tests are used for cognitive neuropsychology, research into brain function a ...
s of
executive function
In cognitive science and neuropsychology, executive functions (collectively referred to as executive function and cognitive control) are a set of cognitive processes that support goal-directed behavior, by regulating thoughts and actions thro ...
created by psychologists
Paul W. Burgess and
Tim Shallice. It is composed of two tests, the Hayling Sentence Completion Test and the Brixton Spatial Awareness Test.
The Hayling Sentence Completion Test
The Hayling Sentence Completion test is a measure of response initiation and response suppression. It consists of two sets of 15 sentences each having the last word missing. In the first section the examiner reads each sentence aloud and the participant has to simply complete the sentences, yielding a simple measure of response initiation speed. The second part of the Hayling requires participants to complete a sentence with a nonsense ending word (and suppress a sensible one), giving measures of response suppression ability and thinking time.
This test is entirely spoken and is thus suitable for people with a wide range of problems such as those involving reading, visual perception, or movement. It takes approximately five minutes to administer yet yields three different measures of executive functioning which can be considered separately or combined into an overall score.
The Brixton Spatial Anticipation Test
The Brixton test is a
visuospatial sequencing task with rule changes. This test measures the ability to detect rules in sequences of stimuli. It usually takes between five and ten minutes to administer, and yields an easily understood
scaled score of between 1 and 10.
The Brixton Test is perceptually simple and does not require a verbal response. It is thus appropriate for people who are suffering from a wide range of associated deficits such as those involving speech production or reading.
Clinical uses of the Hayling and Brixton tests
The tests are used by
clinical neuropsychologists to assess
executive functioning in people with
neurological disorders
Neurological disorders represent a complex array of medical conditions that fundamentally disrupt the functioning of the nervous system. These Disorder of consciousness, disorders affect the brain, spinal cord, and nerve networks, presenting unique ...
such as
tumors
A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...
,
strokes
Stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop ...
,
acquired brain injury
Acquired brain injury (ABI) is brain damage caused by events after birth, rather than as part of a genetic or congenital disorder such as fetal alcohol syndrome, perinatal illness or perinatal hypoxia. ABI can result in cognitive, physical, e ...
,
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...
,
dementia
Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...
,
,
encephalitis
Encephalitis is inflammation of the Human brain, brain. The severity can be variable with symptoms including reduction or alteration in consciousness, aphasia, headache, fever, confusion, a stiff neck, and vomiting. Complications may include se ...
, and also
psychiatric diseases such as
schizophrenia
Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...
.
References
Further reading
*
{{Neuropsychology tests
Cognitive tests
Memory tests
Neuropsychological tests