EMBRACED · Brain and Culture in Europe: Development of an European Domain Specific Computerized Battery for Cross-Cultural Neurocognitive Assessment

Brain and Culture in Europe: Development of an European Domain Specific Computerized Battery for Cross-Cultural Neurocognitive Assessment

The European Union (UE) is constituted by citizens from diverse cultures and countries. This has a great impact on the assessment of different psychological and neurological functions in different cultural populations. The influence of culture on the scores of different psychological tests is so important that the DSM-5, the diagnostic guidelines for psychiatric and psychological disorders, stated that these instruments must be culturally adapted. Before the development of the EMBRACED battery, there was no set of psychological tests that could account for cultural differences that could be used in different countries in Europe. The EMBRACED project was created with the aim of developing a new and culturally adapted computerized neuropsychological battery for the assessment of European adults. This instrument fills in the gap for a tool that can be used regardless of the country of origin and that improves the diagnosis of different disorders by incorporating cultural factors. The objectives are: - At a basic science level, EMBRACED provides a tool for the field of cultural neuroscience, allowing for a comprehensive analysis of the cultural factors affecting cognitive performance. - In research, it can be used to combine samples from different countries, thus increasing sample size and improving statistical power. Also, it permits making valuable comparisons between groups from different countries or cultural groups. - In the clinical field, EMBRACED improves diagnosis, reducing the risk of false positives, especially in the migrating groups and in the elderly populations. It thus improves the care provided to society at large, which is one of the H2020 priority research lines included in the “Health, Demographic Change, and Wellbeing” challenge. As far as we know, EMBRACED is the first culturally adapted neuropsychological battery, not only in Europe but also in the rest of the world.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union