DOI: 10.60641/9m76-zw18
title: Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery (Penn CNB)

description: YOUth is a large-scale longitudinal cohort study following children from the city of Utrecht and its surrounding areas in their development from pregnancy until early adulthood. The YOUth cohort focuses on neurocognitive development involved in two core characteristics of behavioral development: social competence and behavioral control. YOUth includes children from the general population to cover the whole range of variation in behavioral development, ranging from uncomplicated development, through problem behavior, to psychiatric disorders. To understand why some children develop problematic behavior, and others show resilience, YOUth measures a broad range of biological, child-related and environmental determinants.

YOUth conducts repeated measurements at regular intervals (i.e. 'waves'). Specifically, the study has two inclusion moments: YOUth Baby & Child and YOUth Child & Adolescent. YOUth applies a flexible longitudinal design to the cohorts, meaning that children are measured at broader age ranges (3-year age ranges) at each wave. The main benefit of the flexible age design is that it provides more detailed information on the neurodevelopmental curves over time.

An extensive data set is generated, including 3D-ultrasound sweeps of the fetal brain, eye tracking, EEG, (f)MRI, computer tasks, cognitive measurements and parent-child observations. We also collect a broad range of questionnaires on behavior, personality, health, lifestyle, parenting, child development, use of (social) media and more. Finally, (umbilical) blood samples, buccal swabs, saliva and hair samples are collected at each visit, and stored in the UMC Utrecht Biobank.
description: The Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery (Penn CNB) is a Dutch translation of the web-based computerized neurocognitive battery developed by the Brain Behavior Laboratory of the University of Pennsylvania (https://penncnp.med.upenn.edu/). It includes a total of 17 tests, resulting in measures of performance accuracy (the percentage or number of correct responses) and reaction time in 5 overall cognitive domains. These domains, their corresponding test and which cognitive skill they specifically measure are: 1) executive-control [Continuous Performance Test (measures attention), Letter N-Back Test (measures working memory), and Conditional Exclusion Test (measures abstraction and mental flexibility)]; 2) episodic memory [Face Memory Test (measures face memory), Word Memory Test (measures verbal memory), and Visual Object Learning Test (measures spatial memory)]; 3) complex cognition [Matrix Reasoning Test (measures nonverbal reasoning), Verbal Reasoning Test (measures language reasoning), and Line Orientation Test (measures spatial ability)]; 4) social cognition [Emotion Identification Test (measures emotion identification), Emotion Differentiation Test (measures emotion differentiation), and Age Differentiation Test (measures age differentiation)]; and 5) sensorimotor speed [Motor Praxis Task (measures sensorimotor speed), and Finger Tapping Test (measures motor speed)].
description: In YOUth, the Emotion Recognition test, the Motor Praxis test (Mouse Practice task), and the Word Memory task (including Delay) were used. In the Mouse Practice task, children click as quickly as possible on a green square that disappears after the click, and that reappears smaller each time as the task progresses. In the Word Memory task, children are asked to remember words that are displayed one by one, and afterwards indicate which of the words shown on the screen they saw before. Delayed verbal memory is assessed 20 minutes later by asking the children to respond to a new mix of target words and distractors. The Emotion Recognition task consists of 40 items in which faces are presented one by one, each having a neutral or emotional (happy, sad, angry, fearful) expression. Children are asked to choose which emotion is expressed. Data were collected up until December 2020.