Cognistat Cognitive Assessment
What It Measures
Cognistat, formerly the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination, is a cognitive screening test that reports separate scores for separate abilities rather than a single total. That is the whole design: on a test that produces one number, strong performance in several areas can hide a real problem in one.
Five ability areas are tested independently — language, constructional ability, memory, calculation, and reasoning — alongside separate checks of consciousness, orientation, and attention. Most areas use a screen-and-metric approach: the person is given a harder item first, and only if they fail does the examiner work through easier items. Passing the screen means moving on quickly. Failing it means the examiner keeps going until a floor is found, so the depth of the difficulty is measured rather than just its presence.
Further Reading
Additional Notes
Learn More: Domain raw scores are looked up in a table in the test booklet and plotted on a cognitive status profile, classifying each area as normal or impaired, with impairment graded mild, moderate, or severe. The instrument is standardized for adolescents and adults, with separate senior norms for three age bands (60–64, 65–74, 75–84).
