Brief tests for the assessment of language-executive functions: normative data for the Italian population

Background: Executive functions are entangled with language production, particularly during word retrieval. Verbal fluency and action naming tasks are widely used to assess both executive control and lexical access in brain disorders. Aim: To provide updated Italian norms for a set of brief language-executive tests, including Phonemic Verbal Fluency (PVF), Semantic Verbal Fluency (SVF), Alternate Verbal Fluency (AVF), Verb Verbal Fluency (VVF) and a short form of the Action Verb-Naming Test (AVNT-SF). Methods: A sample of 317 Italian healthy adults (195 females; age range = 40-89 years; education range = 5-23) underwent the abovementioned set of tests. For the PVF and SVF, we considered three scores: the number of words produced in 1', in the first 30", and in the last 30". Regression-based norms were derived via the Equivalent Score method. The association between these measures was examined with correlations. Results: Age and education significantly predicted performance across all measures, while sex only affected the SVF. Fluency measures were highly and positively related to each other (strong correlations), whereas correlations between the AVNT-SF and fluency tasks were weaker - albeit significant. Conclusion: The study provides updated Italian norms for a set of tests assessing lexical access and executive functioning to be employed in clinical practice and research.