Teleneuropsychometry Solution in Resource-Constrained Setting – An Initial Experience in Adults With Brain Tumors
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15540/nr.12.3.192Keywords:
tele-neuropsychometry, Brain Tumor, PEBL Software, Neuropsychological BatteryAbstract
Background. Teleneuropsychometry constitutes a sophisticated technological innovation that enhances access to specialized neuropsychological services for patients situated in geographically remote or resource-limited contexts. When optimally utilized, teleneuropsychometry emerges as an advanced modality for bridging the gap between patient and neuropsychologists, facilitating timely preoperative cognitive evaluations. Methods. The study delineates two case reports of brain tumor patients who underwent teleneuropsychometric assessment prior to surgical interventions while also critically analyzing the complexities inherent in establishing such a service. Results. Both patients successfully completed the assessments with minimal assistance, providing valuable insights into their cognitive abilities. These insights enabled the medical team to customize surgical planning and anticipate potential risks. Conclusion. The findings reinforce the growing body of evidence supporting the feasibility of teleneuropsychometric assessments in a resource-constrained environment and highlights their broader applicability within the domains of neuro-oncology.
References
Agarwal, P. P., Manjunatha, N., Gowda, G. S., Kumar, M. G., Shanthaveeranna, N., Kumar, C. N., & Math, S. B. (2019). Collaborative tele-neuropsychiatry consultation services for patients in central prisons. Journal of Neurosciences in Rural Practice, 10(1), 101–105. https://doi.org/10.4103/jnrp.jnrp_215_18
Avons, S. E., & Trew, L. (2006). What kind of space is remembered in spatial span? Cognitive Processing, 7, 157–159. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-006-0121-3
Beaton, D. E., Bombardier, C., Guillemin, F., & Ferraz, M. B. (2000). Guidelines for the process of cross-cultural adaptation of self-report measures. Spine, 25(24), 3186–3191. https://doi.org/10.1097/00007632-200012150-00014
Brearly, T. W., Shura, R. D., Martindale, S L., Lazowski, R. A., Luxton, D. D., Shenal, B. V., & Rowland, J. A. (2017). Neuropsychological test administration by videoconference: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Neuropsychology Review, 27, 174–186. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11065-017-9349-1
Bilder, R. M., Postal, K. S., Barisa, M., Aase, D. M., Cullum, C. M., Gillaspy, S. R., Harder, L., Kanter, G., Lanca, M., Lechuga, D. M., Morgan, J. M., Most, R., Puente, A. E., Salinas, C. M., & Woodhouse, J. (2020). Inter organizational practice committee recommendations/guidance for teleneuropsychology in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 35(6), 647–659. https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acaa046
Dassanayake, T. L., Ariyasinghe, D. I., & Baminiwatta, A. (2025). Demographically-adjusted norms for Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT) for Sri Lankan adults. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/13854046.2025.2471116
Dinakaran, D., Basavarajappa, C., Manjunatha, N., Kumar, C. N., & Math, S. B. (2020). Telemedicine practice guidelines and telepsychiatry operational guidelines, India—A commentary. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 42(Suppl. 5), 1S–3S. https://doi.org/10.1177/0253717620958382
Fastenau, P. S., Denburg, N. L., & Hufford, B. J. (1999). Adult norms for the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure test and for supplemental recognition and matching trials from the extended complex figure test. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 13(1), 30–47. https://doi.org/10.1076/clin.13.1.30.1976
Fernaeus, S.-E., Julin, P., Almqvist, O., & Wahlund, L.-O. (2013). Medial temporal lobe volume predicts rate of learning in Rey-AVLT. Advances in Alzheimer's Disease, 2(1), 7–12. https://doi.org/10.4236/aad.2013.21002
Ferreira-Correia, A., Banjo, H., & Israel, N. (2024). Phonemic verbal fluency in non-WEIRD populations: Demographic differences in performance in the Controlled Oral Word Association Test-FAS. African Journal of Psychological Assessment, 6(1), Article 152. https://doi.org/10.4102/ajopa.v6i0.152
Gardner, M. M., Aslanzadeh, F. J., Zarrella, G. V., Braun, S. E., Loughan, A. R., & Parsons, M. W. (2021). Cancer, cognition, and COVID: Delivering direct-to-home teleneuropsychology services to neuro-oncology patients. Neuro-Oncology Practice, 8(4), 485–496. https://doi.org/10.1093/nop/npab021
Geffen, G. M., Geffen, L., Bishop, K., & Manning, L. (1997). Extended delayed recall of avlt word lists: Effects of age and sex on adult performance. Australian Journal of Psychology, 49(2), 78–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049539708259857
Kessels, R. P., Van Zandvoort, M. J., Postma, A., Kappelle, L. J., & De Haan, E. H. (2000). The Corsi block-tapping task: Standardization and normative data. Applied Neuropsychology, 7(4), 252–258. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15324826AN0704_8
Langer, N., Weber, M., Vieira, B. H., Strzelczyk, D., Wolf, L., Pedroni, A., Heitz, J., Müller, S., Schultheiss, C., Tröndle, M., Arango-Lasprilla, J. C., Scarpina, F., Zhao, Q., Leuthold, R., Wehrle, F., Jenni, O. G., Brugger, P., Zaehle, T., Lorenz, R., & Zhang, C. (2022). Automating clinical assessments of memory deficits: Deep Learning based scoring of the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.06.15.496291
Mueller, S. T., & Piper, B. J. (2014). The psychology experiment building language (PEBL) and PEBL test battery. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 222, 250–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2013.10.024
Nadkarni, A., Garg, A., Agrawal, R., Sambari, S., Mirchandani, K., Velleman, R., Gupta, D., Bhatia, U., Fernandes, G., D’souza, E., Amonkar, A., & Rane, A. (2023). Acceptability and feasibility of assisted telepsychiatry in routine healthcare settings in India: A qualitative study. Oxford Open Digital Health, 1, Article oqad016. https://doi.org/10.1093/oodh/oqad016
Piper, B. J., Li, V., Eiwaz, M. A., Kobel, Y. V., Benice, T. S., Chu, A. M., Olsen, R. H. J., Rice, D. Z., Gray, H. M., & Mueller, S. T. (2012). Executive function on the psychology experiment building language tests. Behavior Research Methods, 44, 110–123. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0096-6
Poreh, A., Bezdicek, O., Korobkova, I., Levin, J. B., & Dines, P. (2016). The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test forced-choice recognition task: Base-rate data and norms. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, 23(3), 155–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/23279095.2015.1027343
Shin, M.-S., Park, S.-Y., Park, S.-R., Seol, S.-H., & Kwon, J. S. (2006). Clinical and empirical applications of the Rey–Osterrieth complex figure test. Nature Protocols, 1(2), 892–899. https://doi.org/10.1038/NPROT.2006.115
Sarno, M., Buré-Reyes, A., Harcourt, S., Haq, I., Luca, C., Jagid, J., & Levin, B. (2022). Success of home-to-home tele-neuropsychology (TeleNP) in deep brain stimulation (DBS) candidacy assessments: COVID-19 and beyond. Parkinsonism & Related Disorders, 98, 56–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.parkreldis.2022.04.009
Smolders, L., De Baene, W., van der Hofstad, R., Florack, L., & Rutten, G. (2024). P11.04. A failure to predict function from structure in glioma patients: Lessons from translating neuroscience methods to a clinical population. Neuro-Oncology, 26(Suppl. 5), v62–v63. https://doi.org/10.1093/neuonc/noae144.206
Thwaites, C. L. (2018). Neural correlates of verbal fluency and associations with demographic, mood, cognitive and tumour factors in brain tumour patients [Doctoral dissertation, University of Leeds].
Vakil, E., & Blachstein, H. (1993). Rey auditory‐verbal learning test: Structure analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 49(6), 883–890. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-4679(199311)49:6<883::AID-JCLP2270490616>3.0.CO;2-6
Zienius, K., Ozawa, M., Hamilton, W., Hollingworth, W., Weller, D., Porteous, L., Ben-Shlomo, Y., Grant, R., & Brennan, P. M. (2022). Verbal fluency as a quick and simple tool to help in deciding when to refer patients with a possible brain tumour. BMC Neurology, 22(1), Article 127. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-022-02655-9
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Arunkumar Sekar, Debajyoti Datta, Kashyapi Thakuria, Cathlyn Niranjana Bennett

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
