HSE Neurolinguists Create Russian Adaptation of Classic Verbal Memory Test
Researchers at the HSE Centre for Language and Brain and Psychiatric Hospital No. 1 Named after N.A. Alexeev have developed a Russian-language adaptation of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. This classic neuropsychological test evaluates various aspects of auditory verbal memory in adults and is widely used in both clinical diagnostics and research. The study findings have been published in The Clinical Neuropsychologist.
Memory plays a crucial role in our lives and is often negatively affected by various conditions, ranging from stroke to dementia. Clinicians need reliable, well-established tools to accurately assess this function in patients. One such method is the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), developed by Swiss psychologist André Rey in the mid-20th century. This test, used to assess the ability to learn and retain auditory information, has been adapted into numerous languages, including Norwegian, Greek, and Arabic. However, until recently, there was no Russian-language version suitable for all ages, except a version for young adults released a year ago.
A team of researchers at the HSE Centre for Language and Brain and Psychiatric Hospital No. 1 Named after N.A. Alexeev have developed a Russian-language adaptation of the RAVLT universally suitable for testing adults of all ages.
The specialists developed three alternative word lists for memorisation, considering factors such as word length and word usage frequency. Having multiple word lists makes it possible to administer the test repeatedly without the risk of patients remembering words from previous sessions. The Russian-language version of the test has been incorporated into the RAVLT World tablet application, with automated administration and scoring. A paper-and-pencil version of the test is available for those who prefer traditional methods.
'We hope that the Russian-language adaptation of the test will be widely used by clinicians to assess memory in various patient groups, including elderly persons with suspected neurodegenerative diseases, adults after a stroke, and those with epilepsy,' says Svetlana Malyutina, Deputy Director of the HSE Centre for Language and Brain. 'The test materials are currently available in a paper-and-pencil format, and in 2025, a new RAVLT World tablet application will be launched on RuStore.'
To implement the test in clinical practice, accurate data are needed to determine when a subject's performance is considered normal and when it indicates impairment. To achieve this, the researchers tested 354 neurologically healthy Russian-speaking volunteers aged 21 to 89. The results helped establish performance norms for populations varying in age, gender, and years of education. It was found that although older individuals tend to remember fewer words than younger ones, their patterns of learning and forgetting are similar. In the future, the researchers plan to compare age-related effects in healthy aging and cognitive impairment.
Victor Savilov
‘It is important that the assessment of test performance considers the level of education,' explains Victor Savilov, Head of the Memory Clinic Rehabilitation Department at Psychiatric Hospital No. 1 Named after N.A. Alexeev. 'This approach accounts for the impact of education on cognitive functions, allowing for detection of cognitive impairments with greater sensitivity.'
In addition, the researchers adapted the RAVLT for children and collected a large database of test performance by children aged 5 to 18. The release of the children's version of the test, planned for 2025, will be an important step in diagnosing cognitive impairments in the paediatric population.
See also:
‘The Peak of Stupidity’ and ‘The Valley of Despair’: HSE Economists Propose an Explanation for the Dunning–Kruger Effect
The Dunning–Kruger effect, which describes a sharp surge in self-confidence among beginners followed by an equally rapid decline as they gain experience, can be explained by the nature of the learning process and the acquisition of new knowledge. This conclusion was reached by Andrey Vorchik of the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences together with independent researcher Murat Mamyshev. They developed a mathematical model of learning and demonstrated how subjective confidence is formed and changes as knowledge accumulates, as well as how teachers can reduce the ‘valley of despair’ experienced by learners.
Toffee and Risk: Scientists Discover Why People Who Crave Sweets Make More Impulsive Choices
Having a sweet tooth may be linked not only to eating habits but also to the way people make decisions. Researchers at HSE University have found that people with a preference for sweet foods tend to behave more impulsively—not because they want immediate rewards, but because they are less willing to tolerate uncertainty. These findings may help improve treatments for addiction. The study findings have been published in Frontiers in Psychology.
Physicists Find a Way to Model Ion Parameters in Plasma in Seconds
Researchers from HSE University and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) have developed a set of simple analytical methods for calculating the properties of heavy ions in helium under the influence of a strong electric field. The new approach speeds up calculations of ion mobility and ion–molecule reaction rates by thousands of times while maintaining sufficient accuracy for plasma jet modelling. The findings have been published in the journal Physica Scripta.
Two Years of Growth or Decline: How to Choose an Investment Strategy
Economists from HSE University, together with colleagues from international universities, have analysed stock market movements over almost a century and proposed an investment strategy that could have delivered returns nearly twice as high as the market average. Their research suggests following a momentum strategy during periods of sustained market growth and switching to a value strategy after prolonged market declines. The study has been published in the Journal of Banking and Finance.
Researchers Reveal Link Between Attention and Communication Difficulties in Autism
Researchers at HSE University have examined how communication difficulties in children with autism are related to brain function. The findings show that not only language networks but also attention networks play an important role. The weaker the connections involved in maintaining focus and switching attention, the more pronounced communication difficulties were. The study has been published in European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
Scientists Discover Why Some People Wore Masks During COVID-19 While Others Did Not
Why do some people voluntarily follow new rules while others ignore them? Researchers at HSE University have found that the answer lies not so much in people's willingness to cooperate, as previously believed, but in their ability to empathise with others. Empathy proved to be the strongest predictor of whether people chose to wear face masks voluntarily during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings have been published in Frontiers.
Physicists at HSE University and FIAN Discover Way to 'Photograph' Sound for Testing Materials Used in 6G Communications
Researchers at HSE University, in collaboration with colleagues from the Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FIAN), have developed a method for rapidly determining how firmly a film is bonded to a substrate. This is important for the creation of ultrahigh-frequency acoustic filters, which are key components of next-generation 5G and 6G communications. For the first time, researchers have succeeded in measuring the lateral rigidity of the bond between a two-dimensional material film and a substrate in this way. The study results have been published in Applied Physics Letters.
Scientists Create Open Dataset for Studying Concentration
A team of Russian researchers, including scientists from HSE University–St Petersburg, has developed the first open multimodal dataset containing recordings of brain activity, heart function, and video observations to help researchers understand what happens in the human brain during deep concentration. In the future, the dataset could accelerate the development of neural interfaces, rehabilitation technologies, and AI systems. The article has been published in Scientific Data.
Scientists Propose Method for More Efficient Resource Use in Machine Learning
An international group of researchers, including mathematicians from the AI and Digital Science Institute at the HSE Faculty of Computer Science, has provided a theoretical justification for a simple and computationally efficient method of estimating uncertainty in Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD). The paper has been published on the scientific preprint server arXiv.org and presented at AISTATS 2026.
Team Success: Aligning Means with Objectives
In corporations, sports, and academia, people often face challenges they cannot handle alone. In such cases, selecting the right team is crucial. Tatiana Mayskaya, Associate Professor at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences and the International College of Economics and Finance, together with colleagues from foreign universities, examined team characteristics and found that less diverse teams are better suited to objectives where a high average performance is important, whereas more diverse teams are preferable when avoiding failure is critical. The paper has been published in Economic Theory.