RESUMOO uso de versões apenas traduzidas de instrumentos neuropsicológicos padronizados internacionais na clínica brasileira ainda é bastante freqüente. Para que uma ferramenta diagnóstica mensure os processos cognitivos a que se propõe a medir, torna-se essencial uma adaptação de suas instruções e de seus estímulos à realidade brasileira lingüística, cultural e social. O presente artigo de revisão teórica tem por objetivo refletir sobre as particularidades da adaptação de instrumentos neuropsicológicos verbais, propondo um fluxograma de procedimentos de adaptação neuropsilinguística que transcenda à mera tradução. Este fluxograma foi derivado da consulta à literatura de avaliação psicológica, avaliação neuropsicológica, avaliação fonoaudiológica e da experiência clínica e científica das autoras na construção e adaptação de ferramentas clínicas de mensuração de desempenho cognitivo por meio de estímulos verbais. Engloba procedimentos específicos envolvendo três grupos de procedimentos gerais: tradução, análise de juízes e estudo piloto. O contato contínuo com os pesquisadores autores do instrumento original é destacado como uma etapa essencial. A continuidade do processo de adaptação com procedimentos neuropsicométricos é brevemente discutida. Palavras-chave: avaliação neuropsicológica; adaptação; testes verbais; linguagem; neuropsicolinguística. ABSTRACT Adaptation of Neuropsychological Verbal Instruments: A Fluxogram of Procedures far Beyond TranslationA very recurrent practice in Brazilian clinics still nowadays is the adoption of translated versions of neuropsychological instruments internationally standardized. It is fundamental that diagnostic tools have their instructions and stimuli adapted to the Brazilian linguistic, cultural and social reality, so that they accurately and reliably measure the cognitive processes that they are meant to assess. This theoretical review article aims to reflect on the specificities underlying the adaptation of verbal neuropsychological instruments, proposing a fluxogram of procedures for neuropsycholinguistic adaptation which transcends mere translation. This fluxogram was derived from the literature on psychological, neuropsychological, phonoaudiological assessments, and from the authors clinical and scientific experience in the construction and adaptation of tools for the evaluation of cognitive performance by means of verbal stimuli. It encompasses specific procedures comprising three groups of general procedures: translation, judges analysis and pilot study. The continuous contact with the researchers who are the authors of the original instrument is highlighted as representing an essential phase. The ongoing adaptation process with neuropsychometric procedures is briefly discussed.

Neuropsychological assessment reveals that certain cognitive changes that take place during the neural development process may be associated with biopsychosocial issues. A substantial body of research has focused on cognitive development in children and adults, but few such studies have been carried out on adolescents. Therefore, research into the processing of neuropsychological functions in adolescents, taking into account the role of major socio-cultural factors such as school type (public vs. private), is highly relevant. The present study sought to assess whether differences in neuropsychological development exist between adolescent students of public (government-funded) and private schools. A total of 373 grade-matched students between the ages of 12 and 18, 190 from public schools and 183 from private schools, took part in the study. All subjects had no self-reported neurologic or psychiatric conditions and sensory disorders. The NEUPSILIN Brazilian Brief Neuropsychological Assessment Battery was administered to this sample. Comparison of mean scores (one-way ANCOVA with socioeconomic score and age as covariates) showed that adolescents attending private schools generally outperformed their public-school peers in tasks involving sustained attention, memory (working and visual), dictated writing, and constructional and reflective abilities. We conclude that school type should be taken into account during standardization of neuropsychological assessment instruments for adolescent and, probably, child populations.

TEMA: a avaliação breve da comunicação é um recurso útil aos profissionais da saúde, pois fornece informações que subsidiam tanto o diagnóstico funcional, quanto o planejamento e a execução de avaliações expandidas e de medidas de reabilitação a serem realizados em cada caso. OBJETIVO: apresentar uma revisão sistemática acerca do uso de instrumentos padronizados de avaliação breve da comunicação e caracterizar as populações alvo descritas. CONCLUSÃO: encontraram-se 18 artigos, com 10 instrumentos breves, sendo a população mais examinada a de pacientes pós-acidente vascular cerebral. Os componentes lingüísticos prevalentes nas avaliações foram expressão, compreensão, leitura e escrita.

Lexical-semantic impairments are common consequences of acquired neurological damage. However, little is known about the benefits of existing treatment methods for this type of language impairment.ObjectiveTo evaluate current research into lexical-semantic interventions for adults with dementia, TBI or stroke.MethodsThe PubMed, PsycInfo and SCOPUS databases were searched for studies related to rehabilitation, neurological conditions, communicative and lexical-semantic skills published between 2004 and 2014.ResultsTwenty-eight of the 453 abstracts found were selected for the review based on the PRISMA method. Most of the studies described treatments for anomia. Semantic tasks were the most commonly used, followed by phonological and gestural strategies. Interventions were individual and involved formal tasks, although the number, frequency and duration of sessions varied between studies.ConclusionAlthough lexical-semantic interventions lead to improvements in language abilities, they are still poorly described in the literature, and must be further investigated in terms of their efficacy, effectiveness and long-term effects.

Language impairments in patients with acquired brain injury can have a negative impact on social life as well as on other cognitive domains. Discourse impairments are among the most commonly reported communication deficits among patients with acquired brain damage. Despite advances in the development of diagnostic tools for detecting such impairments, few studies have investigated interventions to rehabilitate patients presenting with these conditions.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to present a systematic review of the methods used in the rehabilitation of discourse following acquired brain injury.MethodsThe PubMed database was searched for articles using the following keywords: "rehabilitation", "neurological injury", "communication" and "discursive abilities".ResultsA total of 162 abstracts were found, but only seven of these met criteria for inclusion in the review. Four studies involved samples of individuals with aphasia whereas three studies recruited samples of individuals with traumatic brain injury.ConclusionAll but one article found that patient performance improved following participation in a discourse rehabilitation program.