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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Feb 1.
Published in final edited form as: Trends Mol Med. 2019 Nov 7;26(2):150–169. doi: 10.1016/j.molmed.2019.10.001

Table 2:

Human cognitive behavioral tasks and related animal tests

Stage Common Human Cognitive
Task Used		 Cognitive Domain Tested Mouse Analogous Tasks Non-Analogous Mouse
Cognitive Tasks Used in
Preclinical Studies		 References
Infancy (0–3 years)

  1. CDC Developmental Milestones Tracker

  2. Age and Stage Questionnaire, 3rd ed

  • Gross and fine motor skills

  • Language and communication

  • Problem solving

  • Adaptive behavior

  • Personal–social skills

 None Fox scale was used to analyze developmental milestones in Dp(16)1/Yey, Ts65Dn and Ts1Cje mouse models [43, 109, 110]
Bayley Scale for Infant and Toddler Development–III (Birth to 3·5 Years)

  • Cognitive

  • Language (Receptive and Expressive)

  • Gross and Fine Motor

  • Socio–emotional

  • Adaptive behavior

 None None [111, 112]
Speech Development/Vocalization

  • Early infancy communication

 Ultrasonic vocalization Ultrasonic Vocalization was used to analyze Ts65Dn and Ts1Cje pup vocalization [110, 113-115]
Griffiths Scale of Child Development–III (Birth to 6 years)

  • Foundation of learning

  • Language and communication

  • Eye and hand coordination

  • Personal–social–emotional

  • Gross motor

 None None [116, 117]
Piagetian Object Concept Task (Birth to 2 Years)

  • Sensorimotor development

 None None [118]
Peabody Development Motor Scales–II (Birth to 5 Years)

  • Gross and fine motor skills

 None None [119]

  1. Test of Infant Motor Performance (TIMP) (Birth to 4 months)

  2. Harris Infant Neuro–motor Test (HINT) (2·5 to 12·5 months)

  3. Alberta Infant Motor Skills (AIMS) (Birth to 2 years)

  • Spontaneous movements

  • Postural control and movement

 None None [120-122]
Childhood (3–11 years) NIH Toolbox (3 to 85 years)

  • Cognition

  • Motor function

  • Emotion

  • Sensation

 None None [12]
Stanford–Binet Intelligence Test (2 to 89 years)

  • Fluid reasoning

  • Knowledge

  • Quantitative reasoning

  • Visual–spatial processing

  • Working memory

 None None [123, 124]
Leiter International Scale (3 to 75 years)

  • Fluid reasoning

  • Visual–spatial processing

  • Working memory

  • Attention

 None None [125, 126]
Adolescence-Adulthood (12–20 years) Touch–Screen Based Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB)

  • General memory and learning

  • Working memory

  • Visual memory

  • Attention

  • Verbal memory

  • Decision making

 Only one published study analyzed visual discrimination in Ts65Dn mice using touchscreen chambers Most studies in mouse models of DS used the following conventional rodent behavioral tasks:

  • Morris water maze (spatial memory)

  • Novel object recognition (short and long–term memory)

  • Fear conditioning (long–term memory)

  • T maze (working memory)

  • Open field (locomotor activity)

  • Rotarod and treadmill (motor coordination)

 [11, 127]
Touch–Screen Based ARIZONA Cognitive Test Battery (ACTB)

  • Verbal comprehension

  • Working memory

  • Perceptual organization

  • Processing speed

 Only one study used non–touchscreen tasks to translate the ARIZONA battery [45, 128, 129]