The NIH toolbox: setting a standard for biomedical research

This special issue of Neurology(®) marks the unveiling of a multi-year effort to develop the NIH Toolbox for Assessment of Neurological and Behavioral Function (NIH Toolbox). Constructed based on state-of-the-art psychometric research and novel testing methods, this approach to functional neurologic measurement is as innovative in concept as it is in design. This initiative and the resulting set of instruments, supported through the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research (NIH Blueprint) and built by a development team of more than 250 scientists from almost 100 academic institutions, promises to provide long overdue economies of scale and efficiency to the clinical research enterprise. The NIH Toolbox achieves that end by providing psychometrically sound, cutting-edge, adaptable measures that enable uniformity of measurement, data sharing, and integration of findings in the research setting.