26 - Advancing Visual Memory with the Brown Location Test: Empirical Support, Administration, and Future Directions

There have been many attempts to develop a visual memory test that consistently measures right mesial temporal lobe function. This is important for epilepsy and tumor surgical evaluations, gaining an accurate understanding of cognitive abilities, and other matters. Most studies have not found a relationship between drawing-based measures, facial recognition, and other formats with right mesial temporal lobe functioning. This is due in part to the ability to use verbal strategies, drawing skills, and the use of stimuli that rely on bilateral temporal lobes. The Brown Location Test (BLT) was developed to eliminate drawing demands and verbal encoding strategies, and to be comparable with word list learning tasks including multiple learning trials, free recall delays, and recognition formats. It was initially developed to be administered by hand, and later converted to a computer program. Psychometric properties of both forms are highly comparable, with excellent alternative form test reliability. Normative data has been collected for ages 18 – 80 years old. The BLT has demonstrated specificity and sensitivity to right temporal lobe epilepsy and right hippocampal resection. There is a rotated, delayed trial that appears to measure cognitive inefficiency in people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), thalamic strokes, and multiple sclerosis (MS), and the BLT can be applied to other populations as well. This presentation will begin with a review of research concerning visual memory in general, with subsequent focus on the BLT development and empirical findings, specifically. There will be opportunities within the workshop for handling the materials, as well as demonstrations of test administration. The workshop will conclude with a discussion about clinical interpretation and future directions