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A composite score for executive functioning, validated in Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) participants with baseline mild cognitive impairment
Gibbons LE, Carle AC, Mackin RS, Harvey D, Mukherjee S, Insel P, Curtis SM, Mungas D et al.. Brain imaging and behavior, 2012-12-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) measures abilities broadly related to executive function (EF), including WAIS-R Digit Symbol Substitution, Digit Span Backwards, Trails A and B, Category Fluency, and Clock Drawing. This study investigates whether a composite executive function measure based on these multiple indicators has better psychometric characteristics than the widely used individual components. We applied item response theory methods to 800 ADNI participants to derive an EF composite score (ADNI-EF) from the above measures.
Key findings
- This study investigates whether a composite executive function measure based on these multiple indicators has better psychometric characteristics than the widely used individual components.
- We applied item response theory methods to 800 ADNI participants to derive an EF composite score (ADNI-EF) from the above measures.
- We then compared ADNI-EF with component measures in 390 longitudinally-followed participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with respect to: (1) Ability to detect change over time; (2) Ability to predict conversion to dementia; (3) Strength of cross-sectional association with MRI-derived measures of structures involved in frontal systems, and (4) Strength of baseline association with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of amyloid β₁₋₄₂, total tau, and phosphorylated tau(181P).
- ADNI-EF showed the greatest change over time, followed closely by Category Fluency.
Why it matters
Researchers combined standard ADNI tests (including Trails A and B, Category Fluency and Clock Drawing) into one executive-function score, "ADNI-EF", using data from 800 ADNI participants. In 390 people with mild cognitive impairment who were followed over time, ADNI-EF "showed the greatest change over time, followed closely by Category Fluency". That makes it a measurement tool for research studies. It is not a treatment, and the stored record does not report how well it predicted dementia.
Study details
- Study designcross-sectional
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 56/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Brain imaging and behavior) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Brain Imaging and Behavior: journal h-index 89 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 4 / 12 | A snapshot of people at one point in time |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2012 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 510 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 31.9 citations a year over 16 year(s) since 2012 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 10.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 4 / 6 | Cited by 46 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 131 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Paul K. Crane: h-index 101 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | University of Washington: institution h-index 3,540 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 7 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 22644789) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 56 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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APA 7th
Gibbons, L. E., Carle, A. C., Mackin, R. S., Harvey, D., Mukherjee, S., Insel, P., et al. (2012). A composite score for executive functioning, validated in Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) participants with baseline mild cognitive impairment. Brain imaging and behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-012-9176-1
Vancouver
Gibbons LE, Carle AC, Mackin RS, Harvey D, Mukherjee S, Insel P, et al. A composite score for executive functioning, validated in Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) participants with baseline mild cognitive impairment. Brain imaging and behavior. 2012. doi:10.1007/s11682-012-9176-1. PMID: 22644789.
BibTeX
@article{gibbons2012-22644789,
author = {Gibbons, L. E. and Carle, A. C. and Mackin, R. S. and Harvey, D. and Mukherjee, S. and Insel, P. and Curtis, S. M. and Mungas, D. and others},
title = {{A composite score for executive functioning, validated in Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) participants with baseline mild cognitive impairment}},
journal = {Brain imaging and behavior},
year = {2012},
doi = {10.1007/s11682-012-9176-1},
pmid = {22644789},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-012-9176-1}
}
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