Neuropsychological measures of hippocampal function

The role of the medial temporal lobe, specifically the hippocampus, in learning and memory has been consistently demonstrated over the past years and has led to the identification of the hippocampus as a target imaging marker for several neurological and psychiatric disorders. Hippocampal dysfunctions and smaller hippocampal volumes have been reported as characteristic for these disorders, and hippocampal asymmetry has been shown to be associated with memory deficits in older adults. These findings underline the importance of screenings for memory functions using neuropsychological cognitive test batteries within the clinical context. To the best of our knowledge, there has been no comprehensive review that has presented neuropsychological tests related to the hippocampus in detail. However, we did not aim to provide a complete overview of neuropsychological tests related to hippocampal function, which would fail in the light of the widespread area. This chapter focuses on neuropsychological tests that assess cognitive functions that depend on the hippocampus in a state-of-the-art fashion and additionally provide the link to several disorders for which hippocampal abnormalities are a common characteristic.