FRONTAL ASSESMENT BATTERY (FAB)
Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) is a tool that permits quickly (10 minutes) evaluating the executive functions located in the frontal lobes. It consists of six tests that correspond to each specific cognitive or behavioral domain related to the frontal lobes.
It consists of six tests corresponding to each specific cognitive or behavioral domain related to the frontal lobes.
1. Similarities (conceptualization)
Explores abstract reasoning by presenting pairs of objects within the same semantic category.
2. Lexical fluidity (Mental flexibility)
Evaluates self-organization, strategy and change by mentioning as many words as possible that begin with a certain letter.
3. Motor series
Explores the capacity for motor programming and planning by carrying out the Luria test (fist-edge-palm) with the dominant hand.
4. Contradictory instructions
The subject evaluated must give a response to the signal of the examiner; it is an exploration of the sensitivity to interferences.
5. GO-NO-GO
Dominion, inhibitory control and impulsivity is explored using the same signals as in the prior test, but with a different verbal order from the examiner.
6. Grasp behavior
Explores the domain of independence in the environment by evaluating the tendency to spontaneously adhere to it.
SCORE:
The maximum score of the FAB is 18 and is obtained using the sum of the six tests, which are scored from 0 to 3.
AUTHORSHIP:
The FAB was authored by Bruno Dubois (Dubois B, Slachevsky A, Litvan I, Pillon B. The FAB: a Frontal Assessment Battery at bedside. Neurology. 2000;55: 1621–1626) and the Spanish version by Hurtado-Pomares.
LINKS to the Tool’s publications
Link to the validation
Hurtado-Pomares M, Terol-Cantero MC, Sánchez-Pérez A, Leiva-Santana C, Peral-Gómez P, Valera-Gran D, Navarrete-Muñoz EM. Measuring executive dysfunction in Parkinson disease: Reliability and validity of the Spanish version of Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB-E). PLoS One. 2018 Nov 19;13(11):e0207698. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0207698. eCollection 2018.
Link to the adaptation to the Spanish population
Hurtado-Pomares M. Valera-Gran D,
Link to the psychometric properties of the Spanish version
Hurtado-Pomares M, Juárez-Leal I, Company-Devesa V, Sánchez-Pérez A, Peral-Gómez P, Espinosa-Sempere C, Valera-Gran D, Navarrete-Muñoz EM. Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB-E) and normative values in a representative adult population sample. Neurología. 2022. doi:10.1016/j.nrleng.2022.09.004
DOWNLOAD the Tool
Request to download the FAB questionnaire
To download the questionnaire in Spanish, you most complete this questionnaire.