CANTAB
The Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) is a suite of computerised, non-verbal cognitive tests developed by Cambridge Cognition. It is touchscreen-based, language-independent, and translationally validated across species (human adults, children, non-human primates, and rodents).
Core Tests for Depression Research
CANTAB offers a six-test battery specifically designed for mood disorder research, covering executive function, memory, attention, emotion recognition, and decision-making under risk:
| Test | Cognitive Domain | Depression Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| one-touch-stockings-cambridge | Executive function, spatial planning | Planning deficits common in mood disorders |
| delayed-match-to-sample | Visual recognition memory | Memory impairment in depression |
| emotion-recognition-task | Emotion identification, implicit processing | Negative bias in depression |
| spatial-working-memory | Visuospatial working memory | Moderate working memory impairments |
| rapid-visual-information-processing | Sustained attention | Attentional deficits in depression |
| cambridge-gambling-task | Decision-making under risk | Risk-sensitive impairment |
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Cambridge Cognition publishes a sample CANTAB battery for ASD research: Emotion Recognition Task (ERT), Match to Sample Visual Search (MTS), Multitasking Test (MTT), One Touch Stockings of Cambridge (OTS), Paired Associates Learning (PAL), Reaction Time (RTI), and Spatial Working Memory (SWM) — spanning executive function, episodic memory, planning, and processing speed, with SWM highlighted as “highly sensitive to cognitive dysfunction in autism” (citing Steele et al. 2007). The page claims the tests discriminate ASD from comorbid ADHD and depression and are sensitive across disorder severity and age (childhood to adult).
Underlying literature named on the vendor page: Ozonoff et al. (2004) — CANTAB subtests sensitive to frontal-lobe function show deficits in planning efficiency and extradimensional set-shifting in autistic disorder; Steele et al. (2007) — load-dependent SWM deficits in autism; Matsuura et al. (2014) — ASD vs ADHD differentiation via executive-function profile. See autism-nonverbal-cognitive-tasks for the full human→mouse→monkey task evidence and automated-cognitive-testing-devices for the cross-species CANTAB lineage.
Executive Function & Impulse Control
Beyond the sample batteries above, the wider CANTAB portfolio includes the Stop Signal Task (SST) — a response-inhibition (action-cancellation) test in which an arrow go-signal is occasionally replaced by an auditory stop signal, with stop-signal delay adjusted by staircase; outcome measures are direction errors, proportion of successful stops, go-trial reaction time and stop-signal reaction time (SSRT) (~14 min administration). Cambridge Cognition recommends it for ADHD and obsessive-compulsive disorder research. See stop-signal-task.
Key Strengths
- Discriminates bipolar disorder from unipolar depression at the neuropsychological level (Muralidharan et al., 2015)
- Differentiates medication effects — sensitive to different pharmacological profiles (Clark et al., 2011)
- Avoids floor/ceiling effects through carefully ranged task difficulties
- Clinically relevant — cognitive performance correlates with quality of life, even early in bipolar disorder (Mackala et al., 2014)
- Fully non-verbal — no reading or language required, enabling cross-species translational research
Related Pages
nonverbal-cognitive-tasks | autism-nonverbal-cognitive-tasks | reversal-learning | stop-signal-task | preclinical-drug-screening | cognitive-testing-patents | automated-cognitive-testing-devices