NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACHES FOR THE DETECTION AND EVALUATION OF TOXIC SYMPTOMS

The purpose of this paper is 3-fold: a) to review briefly the neuropsy chological tests that have been used to evaluate the effects of neurot oxicants; b) to identify individual factors that may create heightened sensitivity to neurotoxicants; and c) to discuss lest parameters that will increase the sensitivity of neuropsychological tests for detecti ng symptoms in low-level exposure situations. While the body of litera ture on neurobehavioral toxicology has increased dramatically during t he past 10 years, it remains difficult to discern which tests are most effective in detecting behavioral effects even among workers with sig nificant exposures. Few investigators have evaluated the interactions between individual differences, such as gender and psychiatric functio n, and exposure to neurotoxicants. Detection of behavioral performance decrements among uniquely susceptible populations such as those with sensitivities to low-level exposures (e.g., multiple chemical sensitiv ities) will require more difficult tests than are frequently used in c urrent neuropsychological test batteries.