Benton Visual Retention Test: characteristics and mode of use.

A psychological test to assess cognitive impairment due to neurological diseases.

Neuropsychological tests allow us to evaluate people to determine cognitive status and other higher functions.

The Benton Visual Retention Test is a test used to determine if the patient has an impairment in visual perception and memory, as well as in other motor skills that involve copying and reproducing shapes and drawings.

Below we explain in more detail what the Benton Visual Retention Test consists of and what it evaluates.The Benton Visual Retention Test, what are its main characteristics, how it is applied and corrected, and the uses it is given in clinical practice.

What is the Benton Visual Retention Test and what does it evaluate?

The Benton Visual Retention Test is a neuropsychological test originally developed by A.L. Benton a neuropsychological test originally developed by A.L. Benton and designed to assess cognitive impairment in three main areas: visual perception, visual memory and visuoconstructive skills. in three main areas: visual perception, visual memory and visoconstructive skills.

Visual perception is a concept that involves our brain's interpretation of the different stimuli received through the sense of sight. This perception encompasses a whole set of processes through which the person organizes, selects and interprets, in a meaningful way and through his previous experience, the visual information. It is an active process in which information is not only captured, but also transformed and given meaning and coherence.

As far as visual memory is concerned, it allows us to identify a stimulus, examine it and assign meaning to it. This type of memory involves a process of perception, encoding, storage and retrieval of stored knowledge and representations arising from cognitive processing. Visual memory uses information to evaluate, compare and locate objects, places and people by constructing a mental image.

On the other hand, visoconstructive skills refer to the ability we have to plan and execute the movements necessary to organize a series of elements in a necessary to organize a series of elements in space and form drawings and two- or three-dimensional structures.

Features

The Benton Visual Retention Test has been shown to be sensitive to literacy problems, non-verbal learning disabilities, traumatic brain injury, attention deficit disorder, Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.

This test has been validated as effective in the assessment of difficulties in the perception of spatial relations and in the recall of newly acquired visual stimuli, as well as for the diagnosis of brain damage in both children and adults.

Studies confirm that the test is reliable and there is a correlation between the different forms of the test, although there is evidence that administration A in form C appears slightly easier than forms D and E.

The validity of the Benton Visual Retention Test has also been confirmed using other neuropsychological tests.The validity of the Benton Visual Retention Test has also been confirmed by using other neuropsychological tests, such as the King's Complex Figure Test or the WAIS cube test, and also by comparing different groups of patients (with cognitive impairment and alterations) and healthy subjects.

However, this neuropsychological test does not seem to show specific sensitivity to lesions in the hippocampus of the right hemisphere, unlike other tests such as the Warrington Face Memory Test or the Wechsler Face Memory Subtest (WSM-III).

Mode of application and interpretation

The Benton Visual Retention Test has 3 alternative forms (C, D and E), and at the same time equivalent, which can be administered in different conditions. During the test, the patient is presented with 10 cards (most contain 3 figures, two large and one small) for several seconds, with unique designs on each of them.

After the time for each administration has elapsed, the person is asked to make an immediate reproduction of the design on each card (in a visual memory exercise).

In the second phase, you are asked to copy from each of the 10 card designs, with the cards in view.The results of each task are evaluated and transcribed into six categories: omissions, distortions, preservations, rotations, extractions, and extractions. The results of each task are evaluated and transcribed into six categories: omissions, distortions, preservations, rotations, misplacements and size errors.

The final score varies from 0, if a multitude of errors are made, to 10, if everything is correct. The test should be corrected taking into account the patient's age and IQ.

The four possible types of test administration possible types of test administration:

• Exposure for 10 seconds and immediate reproduction of the memory.
• Exposure for 5 seconds and immediate reproduction of the memory.
• Copying of the drawings (no time limit). For older adults with advanced cognitive impairment.
• Exposure for 10 seconds and delayed reproduction of the memory (after 15 seconds).

Clinical uses of the test

The Benton Visual Retention Test is sensitive to cognitive impairment, brain injury and various mental illnesses, although it is difficult to diagnose a particular disorder using this test.

Regarding the test results, it has been shown that a large number of perseverations could suggest frontal lobe damage, while many omissions in the peripheral designs would suggest possible brain trauma, especially in the right parietal lobe.

On the other hand, overall test performance does not appear to distinguish between people with frontal lobe damage and those with peripheral damage. does not appear to distinguish between people with unilateral damage to the left or right hemisphere.. However, it appears that clinicians are able to distinguish between motor, perceptual or memory impairments based on analysis of the test results.

Diseases that have been shown to greatly reduce an individual's test score are: dementias, brain injury, thalamic stroke and Alzheimer's disease..

Both the copying and recall versions appear to be particularly sensitive to the detection of dementias, and could help identify subjects at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease in the future. The test has also been able to detect children with learning difficulties.

Finally, it should be noted that the Benton Visual Retention Test was one of the tests included in the World Health Organization's NCTB battery more than 30 years ago, with the aim of being able to identify the effects caused by chemical exposure on the human nervous system; since then, it has continued to be used to assess such exposure in the workplace, showing high sensitivity to several chemical components, such as mercury, lead or pesticides.

Bibliographic references:

• Benton, A. L., Abigail, B., Sivan, A. B., Hamsher, K. D., Varney, N. R., & Spreen, O. (1994). Contributions to neuropsychological assessment: A clinical manual. Oxford University Press, USA.
• Benton, A. L., Varney, N. R., & Hamsher, K. S. (1978). Visuospatial judgment: A clinical
• test. Archives of Neurology, 25, 364-367.
• Vidal, J. L. B., & Campos, E. R. (2009). El test de retención visual de Benton en lesionados cerebrales adultos. Quaderns de Psicología, (18), 19-35