Anorexia nervosa (AN) is characterized by severe restriction of calorie intake, which persists despite serious medical and psychological sequelae of starvation. Several prior studies have identified impaired feedback learning among individuals with AN, but whether it reflects a disturbance in learning from positive feedback (i.e., reward), negative feedback (i.e., punishment), or both, and the extent to which this impairment is related to severity and duration of illness, has not been clarified.

Participants were female adolescents with AN (n = 76) and healthy teen volunteers (HC; n = 38) between the ages of 12–18 years who completed a probabilistic reinforcement learning task. A Bayesian reinforcement learning model was used to calculate separate learning rates for positive and negative feedback. Exploratory analyses examined associations between feedback learning and duration of illness, eating disorder severity, and self/parent reports of reward and punishment sensitivity.

Adolescents with AN had a significantly lower rate of learning from positive feedback relative to HC. Patients and HC did not differ in learning from negative feedback or on overall task performance measures. Feedback learning parameters were not significantly associated with duration of illness, eating disorder severity, or questionnaire-based reports of reward and punishment sensitivity.

Adolescents with AN showed a circumscribed deficit in learning from reward that was not associated with duration of illness or reported sensitivity to reward or punishment. Subsequent longitudinal research should explore whether differences in learning from positive feedback relate to course of illness in youth with AN.

Anxiety is a common comorbid feature of late-life depression (LLD) and is associated with poorer global cognitive functioning independent of depression severity. However, little is known about whether comorbid anxiety is associated with a domain-specific pattern of cognitive dysfunction. We therefore examined group differences (LLD with and without comorbid anxiety) in cognitive functioning performance across multiple domains.

Older adults with major depressive disorder (N = 228, ages 65–91) were evaluated for anxiety and depression severity, and cognitive functioning (learning, memory, language, processing speed, executive functioning, working memory, and visuospatial functioning). Ordinary least squares regression adjusting for age, sex, education, and concurrent depression severity examined anxiety group differences in performance on tests of cognitive functioning.

Significant group differences emerged for confrontation naming and visuospatial functioning, as well as for verbal fluency, working memory, and inhibition with lower performance for LLD with comorbid anxiety compared to LLD only, controlling for depression severity.

Performance patterns identified among older adults with LLD and comorbid anxiety resemble neuropsychological profiles typically seen in neurodegenerative diseases of aging. These findings have potential implications for etiological considerations in the interpretation of neuropsychological profiles.

Cognitive reserve (CR) is typically operationalized as episodic memory residualized on brain health indices. The dimensionality of more generalized models of CR has rarely been examined.

In a sample of N = 113 dementia-free older adults (ages 62–86 years at MRI scan; 58.4% women), the domain-specific representation of general cognition (COG) before vs. after residualization on brain indices (brain volume loss, cerebral blood flow, white matter hyperintensities) was compared (i.e., COG vs. CR). COG and CR were assessed by 15 tasks spanning five domains: processing speed, verbal memory, visuospatial memory, fluid reasoning, and vocabulary. Measurement invariance and item-construct representation were tested in a series of structural factor analyses. COG and CR were then examined in relation to 22 risk and protective factors and dementia status at time of death.

Item-factor loadings differed such that CR more strongly emphasized fluid reasoning. More years of education, higher occupational class, more hobbies/interests, and fewer difficulties with personal mobility similarly predicted better COG and CR. Only the sub-domain of visuospatial memory (both before and after residualization) was associated with conversion to dementia by end-of-life (r = −.30; p = .01).

Results provide tentative support for the role of fluid reasoning (intelligence) as a potential compensatory factor for age- and/or neuropathology-related reductions in processing speed and memory. Intellectually stimulating work, efforts to preserve personal mobility, and a diversity of hobbies and interests may attenuate age- and/or pathology-related reductions in cognitive functioning prior to dementia onset.

Cognitive function may contribute to variability in older adults’ ability to cope with chronic stress; however, limited research has evaluated this relationship. This study investigated the relationship between theoretically derived coping domains and cognitive function in 165 middle-to-older adults during the Omicron stage of COVID-19.

Participants completed a clinical interview and self-report measures of health. The National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set neuropsychological battery was used to evaluate memory, language, executive function/speed, and working memory. Structural equation modeling evaluated the underlying factor structure of the Brief COPE adapted for COVID-19.

The data supported the proposed second-order Approach factor comprised of Problem-Solving and Emotion Regulation (ER) strategies and a first-order Avoidance factor. Higher Avoidance was associated with greater depression symptoms, lower income and worse memory, executive function, working memory, and verbal fluency performance. Higher Problem-Solving was associated with better verbal fluency performance. ER strategies were not significantly associated with cognitive function. The use of Problem-Solving was not associated with less Avoidance. Greater use of Problem-Solving, ER, and Avoidance were all associated with higher levels of stress. Post-hoc analyses found that higher Acceptance was the only coping strategy associated with less stress.

These findings demonstrate that older adults with worse cognitive function were more likely to use Avoidance during the pandemic, which could result in prolonged stress and adverse health consequences. Future research is warranted to investigate whether acceptance-based interventions reduce the avoidance and impact of stress on health in vulnerable older adults.

Identify which NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB) subtest(s) best differentiate healthy controls (HC) from those with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and compare the discriminant accuracy between a model using a priori “Norm Adjusted” scores versus “Unadjusted” standard scores with age, sex, race/ethnicity, and education controlled for within the model. Racial differences were also examined.

Participants were Black/African American (B/AA) and White consensus-confirmed (HC = 96; aMCI = 62) adults 60–85 years old that completed the NIHTB-CB for tablet. Discriminant function analysis (DFA) was used in the Total Sample and separately for B/AA (n = 80) and White participants (n = 78).

Picture Sequence Memory (an episodic memory task) was the highest loading coefficient across all DFA models. When stratified by race, differences were noted in the pattern of the highest loading coefficients within the DFAs. However, the overall discriminant accuracy of the DFA models in identifying HCs and those with aMCI did not differ significantly by race (B/AA, White) or model/score type (Norm Adjusted versus Unadjusted).

Racial differences were noted despite the use of normalized scores or demographic covariates—highlighting the importance of including underrepresented groups in research. While the models were fairly accurate at identifying consensus-confirmed HCs, the models proved less accurate at identifying White participants with an aMCI diagnosis. In clinical settings, further work is needed to optimize computerized batteries and the use of NIHTB-CB norm adjusted scores is recommended. In research settings, demographically corrected scores or within model correction is suggested.

This study investigated the relationship between various intrapersonal factors and the discrepancy between subjective and objective cognitive difficulties in adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The first aim was to examine these associations in patients with valid cognitive symptom reporting. The next aim was to investigate the same associations in patients with invalid scores on tests of cognitive symptom overreporting.

The sample comprised 154 adults who underwent a neuropsychological evaluation for ADHD. Patients were divided into groups based on whether they had valid cognitive symptom reporting and valid test performance (n = 117) or invalid cognitive symptom overreporting but valid test performance (n = 37). Scores from multiple symptom and performance validity tests were used to group patients. Using patients’ scores from a cognitive concerns self-report measure and composite index of objective performance tests, we created a subjective-objective discrepancy index to quantify the extent of cognitive concerns that exceeded difficulties on objective testing. Various measures were used to assess intrapersonal factors thought to influence the subjective-objective cognitive discrepancy, including demographics, estimated premorbid intellectual ability, internalizing symptoms, somatic symptoms, and perceived social support.

Patients reported greater cognitive difficulties on subjective measures than observed on objective testing. The discrepancy between subjective and objective scores was most strongly associated with internalizing and somatic symptoms. These associations were observed in both validity groups.

Subjective cognitive concerns may be more indicative of the extent of internalizing and somatic symptoms than actual cognitive impairment in adults with ADHD, regardless if they have valid scores on cognitive symptom overreporting tests.

The number of test translations and adaptations has risen exponentially over the last two decades, and these processes are now becoming a common practice. The International Test Commission (ITC) Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests (Second Edition, 2017) offer principles and practices to ensure the quality of translated and adapted tests. However, they are not specific to the cognitive processes examined with clinical neuropsychological measures. The aim of this publication is to provide a specialized set of recommendations for guiding neuropsychological test translation and adaptation procedures.

The International Neuropsychological Society’s Cultural Neuropsychology Special Interest Group established a working group tasked with extending the ITC guidelines to offer specialized recommendations for translating/adapting neuropsychological tests. The neuropsychological application of the ITC guidelines was formulated by authors representing over ten nations, drawing upon literature concerning neuropsychological test translation, adaptation, and development, as well as their own expertise and consulting colleagues experienced in this field.

A summary of neuropsychological-specific commentary regarding the ITC test translation and adaptation guidelines is presented. Additionally, examples of applying these recommendations across a broad range of criteria are provided to aid test developers in attaining valid and reliable outcomes.

Establishing specific neuropsychological test translation and adaptation guidelines is critical to ensure that such processes produce reliable and valid psychometric measures. Given the rapid global growth experienced in neuropsychology over the last two decades, the recommendations may assist researchers and practitioners in carrying out such endeavors.

Normal aging often leads to cognitive decline, and oldest old people, over 80 years old, have a 15% risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, it is important to have appropriate tools to assess cognitive function in old age. The study aimed to provide new norms for neuropsychological tests used to evaluate the cognitive abilities in people aged 80 years and older in France, focusing on the impact of education and gender differences.

107 healthy participants with an average age of 85.2 years, with no neurological history or major cognitive deficits were included. A comprehensive neuropsychological assessment was performed, covering several cognitive functions such as memory, visuospatial abilities, executive functions, attention, processing speed, and praxis.

Individuals with lower levels of education performed poorly on some tests and took longer to complete. Gender differences were observed, with women outperforming men in verbal episodic memory, while men showed better performance in visuoconstructive tasks. The participants showed lower performance in verbal episodic memory compared to norms established in previous French studies. In relation to executive functions, participants were slower to perform complex tasks than participants in previous studies.

This study provides cognitive norms specifically adapted to the oldest old population, which differ from established norms for younger aging adults. It highlights the importance of including these norms in future clinical and scientific investigations. The findings underscore the importance of education on cognitive abilities and emphasize the need to consider gender differences when assessing cognitive functions in aging populations.

To capture the distortion of exploratory activity typical of patients with spatial neglect, traditional diagnostic methods and new virtual reality applications use confined workspaces that limit patients’ exploration behavior to a predefined area. Our aim was to overcome these limitations and enable the recording of patients’ biased activity in real, unconfined space.

We developed the Free Exploration Test (FET) based on augmented reality technology. Using a live stream via the back camera on a tablet, patients search for a (non-existent) virtual target in their environment, while their exploration movements are recorded for 30 s. We tested 20 neglect patients and 20 healthy participants and compared the performance of the FET with traditional neglect tests.

In contrast to controls, neglect patients exhibited a significant rightward bias in exploratory movements. The FET had a high discriminative power (area under the curve = 0.89) and correlated positively with traditional tests of spatial neglect (Letter Cancellation, Bells Test, Copying Task, Line Bisection). An optimal cut-off point of the averaged bias of exploratory activity was at 9.0° on the right; it distinguished neglect patients from controls with 85% sensitivity.

FET offers time-efficient (execution time: ∼3 min), easy-to-apply, and gamified assessment of free exploratory activity. It supplements traditional neglect tests, providing unrestricted recording of exploration in the real, unconfined space surrounding the patient.

The ability to remotely monitor cognitive skills is increasing with the ubiquity of smartphones. The Mobile Toolbox (MTB) is a new measurement system that includes measures assessing Executive Functioning (EF) and Processing Speed (PS): Arrow Matching, Shape-Color Sorting, and Number-Symbol Match. The purpose of this study was to assess their psychometric properties.

MTB measures were developed for smartphone administration based on constructs measured in the NIH Toolbox® (NIHTB). Psychometric properties of the resulting measures were evaluated in three studies with participants ages 18 to 90. In Study 1 (N = 92), participants completed MTB measures in the lab and were administered both equivalent NIH TB measures and other external measures of similar cognitive constructs. In Study 2 (N = 1,021), participants completed the equivalent NIHTB measures in the lab and then took the MTB measures on their own, remotely. In Study 3 (N = 168), participants completed MTB measures twice remotely, two weeks apart.

All three measures exhibited very high internal consistency and strong test-retest reliability, as well as moderately high correlations with comparable NIHTB tests and moderate correlations with external measures of similar constructs. Phone operating system (iOS vs. Android) had a significant impact on performance for Arrow Matching and Shape-Color Sorting, but no impact on either validity or reliability.

Results support the reliability and convergent validity of MTB EF and PS measures for use across the adult lifespan in remote, self-administered designs.

Functional neurological symptom disorder (FNSD) is a neuropsychiatric condition characterized by signs/symptoms associated with brain network dysfunction. FNSDs are common and are associated with high healthcare costs. FNSDs are relevant to neuropsychologists, as they frequently present with chronic neuropsychiatric symptoms, subjective cognitive concerns, and/or low neuropsychological test scores, with associated disability and reduced quality of life. However, neuropsychologists in some settings are not involved in care of patients with FNSDs. This review summarizes relevant FNSD literature with a focus on the role of neuropsychologists.

A brief review of the literature is provided with respect to epidemiology, public health impact, symptomatology, pathophysiology, and treatment.

Two primary areas of focus for this review are the following: (1) increasing neuropsychologists’ training in FNSDs, and (2) increasing neuropsychologists’ role in assessment and treatment of FNSD patients.

Patients with FNSD would benefit from increased involvement of neuropsychologists in their care.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) prevalence is expected to increase in East Africa as treatment coverage increases, survival improves, and this population ages. This study aimed to better understand the current cognitive phenotype of this newly emergent population of older combination antiretroviral therapy (cART)-treated people living with HIV (PLWH), in which current screening measures lack accuracy. This will facilitate the refinement of HAND cognitive screening tools for this setting.

This is a secondary analysis of 253 PLWH aged ≥50 years receiving standard government HIV clinic follow-up in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. They were evaluated with a detailed locally normed low-literacy neuropsychological battery annually on three occasions and a consensus panel diagnosis of HAND by Frascati criteria based on clinical evaluation and collateral history.

Tests of verbal learning and memory, categorical verbal fluency, visual memory, and visuoconstruction had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve >0.7 for symptomatic HAND (s-HAND) (0.70–0.72; p < 0.001 for all tests). Tests of visual memory, verbal learning with delayed recall and recognition memory, psychomotor speed, language comprehension, and categorical verbal fluency were independently associated with s-HAND in a logistic mixed effects model (p < 0.01 for all). Neuropsychological impairments varied by educational background.

A broad range of cognitive domains are affected in older, well-controlled, East African PLWH, including those not captured in widely used screening measures. It is possible that educational background affects the observed cognitive impairments in this setting. Future screening measures for similar populations should consider assessment of visual memory, verbal learning, language comprehension, and executive and motor function.

Previous studies have found deficits in imaginative elaboration and social inference to be associated with agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC; Renteria-Vasquez et al., 2022; Turk et al., 2009). In the current study, Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) responses from a neurotypical control group and a group of individuals with ACC were used to further study the capacity for imaginative elaboration and story coherence.

Topic modeling was employed utilizing Latent Diritchlet Allocation to characterize the narrative responses to the pictures used in the TAT. A measure of the difference between models (perplexity) was used to compare the topics of the responses of individual participants to the common core model derived from the responses of the control group. Story coherence was tested using sentence-to-sentence Latent Semantic Analysis.

Group differences in perplexity were statistically significant overall, and for each card individually (p < .001). There were no differences between the groups in story coherence.

TAT narratives from persons with ACC were normally coherent, but more conventional (i.e., more similar to the core text) compared to those of neurotypical controls. Individuals with ACC can make conventional social inferences about socially ambiguous stimuli, but are restricted in their imaginative elaborations, resulting in less topical variability (lower perplexity values) compared to neurotypical controls.

Brain areas implicated in semantic memory can be damaged in patients with epilepsy (PWE). However, it is challenging to delineate semantic processing deficits from acoustic, linguistic, and other verbal aspects in current neuropsychological assessments. We developed a new Visual-based Semantic Association Task (ViSAT) to evaluate nonverbal semantic processing in PWE.

The ViSAT was adapted from similar predecessors (Pyramids & Palm Trees test, PPT; Camels & Cactus Test, CCT) comprised of 100 unique trials using real-life color pictures that avoid demographic, cultural, and other potential confounds. We obtained performance data from 23 PWE participants and 24 control participants (Control), along with crowdsourced normative data from 54 Amazon Mechanical Turk (Mturk) workers.

ViSAT reached a consensus >90% in 91.3% of trials compared to 83.6% in PPT and 82.9% in CCT. A deep learning model demonstrated that visual features of the stimulus images (color, shape; i.e., non-semantic) did not influence top answer choices (p = 0.577). The PWE group had lower accuracy than the Control group (p = 0.019). PWE had longer response times than the Control group in general and this was augmented for the semantic processing (trial answer) stage (both p < 0.001).

This study demonstrated performance impairments in PWE that may reflect dysfunction of nonverbal semantic memory circuits, such as seizure onset zones overlapping with key semantic regions (e.g., anterior temporal lobe). The ViSAT paradigm avoids confounds, is repeatable/longitudinal, captures behavioral data, and is open-source, thus we propose it as a strong alternative for clinical and research assessment of nonverbal semantic memory.

To determine whether poorer performance on the Boston Naming Test (BNT) in individuals with transactive response DNA-binding protein 43 pathology (TDP-43+) is due to greater loss of word knowledge compared to retrieval-based deficits.

Retrospective clinical-pathologic study of 282 participants with Alzheimer’s disease neuropathologic changes (ADNC) and known TDP-43 status. We evaluated item-level performance on the 60-item BNT for first and last available assessment. We fit cross-sectional negative binomial count models that assessed total number of incorrect items, number correct of responses with phonemic cue (reflecting retrieval difficulties), and number of “I don’t know” (IDK) responses (suggestive of loss of word knowledge) at both assessments. Models included TDP-43 status and adjusted for sex, age, education, years from test to death, and ADNC severity. Models that evaluated the last assessment adjusted for number of prior BNT exposures.

43% were TDP-43+. The TDP-43+ group had worse performance on BNT total score at first (p = .01) and last assessments (p = .01). At first assessment, TDP-43+ individuals had an estimated 29% (CI: 7%–56%) higher mean number of incorrect items after adjusting for covariates, and a 51% (CI: 15%–98%) higher number of IDK responses compared to TDP-43−. At last assessment, compared to TDP-43−, the TDP-43+ group on average missed 31% (CI: 6%–62%; p = .01) more items and had 33% more IDK responses (CI: 1% fewer to 78% more; p = .06).

An important component of poorer performance on the BNT in participants who are TDP-43+ is having loss of word knowledge versus retrieval difficulties.

White matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume is a neuroimaging marker of lesion load related to small vessel disease that has been associated with cognitive aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk.

The present study sought to examine whether regional WMH volume mediates the relationship between APOE ε4 status, a strong genetic risk factor for AD, and cognition and if this association is moderated by age group differences within a sample of 187 healthy older adults (APOE ε4 status [carrier/non-carrier] = 56/131).

After we controlled for sex, education, and vascular risk factors, ANCOVA analyses revealed significant age group by APOE ε4 status interactions for right parietal and left temporal WMH volumes. Within the young-old group (50-69 years), ε4 carriers had greater right parietal and left temporal WMH volumes than non-carriers. However, in the old-old group (70-89 years), right parietal and left temporal WMH volumes were comparable across APOE ε4 groups. Further, within ε4 non-carriers, old-old adults had greater right parietal and left temporal WMH volumes than young-old adults, but there were no significant differences across age groups in ε4 carriers. Follow-up moderated mediation analyses revealed that, in the young-old, but not the old-old group, there were significant indirect effects of ε4 status on memory and executive functions through left temporal WMH volume.

These findings suggest that, among healthy young-old adults, increased left temporal WMH volume, in the context of the ε4 allele, may represent an early marker of cognitive aging with the potential to lead to greater risk for AD.

There is limited research on neurocognitive outcome and associated risk factors in long-term, adult survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), without treatment of cranial radiation therapy. Moreover, the impact of fatigue severity and pain interference on neurocognition has received little attention. In this cross-sectional study, we examined neurocognitive outcome and associated factors in this population.

Intellectual abilities, verbal learning/memory, processing speed, attention, and executive functions were compared to normative means/medians with one sample t tests or Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Associations with risk factors, fatigue severity, and pain interference were analyzed with linear regressions.

Long-term, adult survivors of childhood ALL (N = 53, 51% females, mean age = 24.4 years, SD = 4.4, mean = 14.7 years post-diagnosis, SD = 3.4) demonstrated above average intellectual abilities, but performed below average in attention, inhibition, processing speed, and shifting (p < 0.001). Executive functioning complaints were significantly higher than normative means, and positively associated with fatigue (p < 0.001). There was no interaction between sex and fatigue and no neurocognitive impairments were associated with pain interference, risk group, age at diagnosis, or sex.

Long-term, adult survivors of ALL treated without cranial radiation therapy, demonstrate domain-specific performance-based neurocognitive impairments. However, continued research on the neurocognitive outcome in this population as they age will be important in the coming years. Executive functioning complaints were frequently in the clinical range, and often accompanied by fatigue. This suggests a need for cognitive rehabilitation programs.

The Amsterdam Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Questionnaire (A-IADL-Q) is well validated and commonly used to assess difficulties in everyday functioning regarding dementia. To facilitate interpretation and clinical implementation across different European countries, we aim to provide normative data and a diagnostic cutoff for dementia.

Cross-sectional data from Dutch Brain Research Registry (N = 1,064; mean (M) age = 62 ± 11 year; 69.5% female), European Medial Information Framework-Alzheimer’s Disease 90 + (N = 63; Mage = 92 ± 2 year; 52.4% female), and European Prevention of Alzheimer’s Dementia Longitudinal Cohort Study (N = 247; Mage = 63 ± 7 year; 72.1% female) were used. The generalized additive models for location, scale, and shape framework were used to obtain normative values (Z-scores). The beta distribution was applied, and combinations of age, sex, and educational attainment were modeled. The optimal cutoff for dementia was calculated using area under receiver operating curves (AUC-ROC) and Youden Index, using data from Amsterdam Dementia Cohort (N = 2,511, Mage = 64 ± 8 year, 44.4% female).

The best normative model accounted for a cubic-like decrease of IADL performance with age that was more pronounced in low compared to medium/high educational attainment. The cutoff for dementia was 1.85 standard deviation below the population mean (AUC = 0.97; 95% CI [0.97–0.98]).

We provide regression-based norms for A-IADL-Q and a diagnostic cutoff for dementia, which help improve clinical assessment of IADL performance across European countries.

We investigated how well a visual associative learning task discriminates Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia from other types of dementia and how it relates to AD pathology.

3,599 patients (63.9 ± 8.9 years old, 41% female) from the Amsterdam Dementia Cohort completed two sets of the Visual Association Test (VAT) in a single test session and underwent magnetic resonance imaging. We performed receiver operating curve analysis to investigate the VAT’s discriminatory ability between AD dementia and other diagnoses and compared it to that of other episodic memory tests. We tested associations between VAT performance and medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA), and amyloid status (n = 2,769, 77%).

Patients with AD dementia performed worse on the VAT than all other patients. The VAT discriminated well between AD and other types of dementia (area under the curve range 0.70–0.86), better than other episodic memory tests. Six-hundred forty patients (17.8%) learned all associations on VAT-A, but not on VAT-B, and they were more likely to have higher MTA scores (odds ratios range 1.63 (MTA 0.5) through 5.13 for MTA ≥ 3, all p < .001) and to be amyloid positive (odds ratio = 3.38, 95%CI = [2.71, 4.22], p < .001) than patients who learned all associations on both sets.

Performance on the VAT, especially on a second set administered immediately after the first, discriminates AD from other types of dementia and is associated with MTA and amyloid positivity. The VAT might be a useful, simple tool to assess early episodic memory deficits in the presence of AD pathology.

The present study asked if bilinguals who are immersed in their nondominant language are more likely to know some words only in their nondominant language.

The either-language scoring benefit (ELSB) reflects how many more points bilinguals get when credited for pictures named regardless of which language is used. We asked if the ELSB varies with self-rated proficiency level of the nondominant language in young English-dominant (n = 68) compared to Spanish-dominant (n = 33) bilinguals, and in older English-dominant (n = 36) compared to Spanish-dominant (n = 32) bilinguals. All bilinguals were immersed in English (in the USA) at the time of testing.

Spanish-dominant bilinguals showed a larger ELSB than English-dominant bilinguals (in both young and older groups), but simple correlations showed that the degree of Spanish dominance was associated with a higher ELSB only in young bilinguals. Additionally, the ELSB was larger for bilinguals with more years of immersion and for more balanced bilinguals, whether measured by naming scores or self-rated balance (in both age groups). Nearly half (n = 14/33) of the young bilinguals who said they were Spanish-dominant scored higher in English than in Spanish, and on average these participants had similar naming scores in English and Spanish.

Either-language scoring benefits bilinguals with higher proficiency level in the nondominant language, which is more likely in bilinguals with extended immersion in the nondominant language, who also tend to be more balanced bilinguals, and for young adult bilinguals who may be in the process of a switch in which language is dominant.