# The Mobile Toolbox for Monitoring Cognitive Function - Project

> **NIH NIH U2C** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $937,166

## Abstract

Project Summary
Our research project will be a collaborative effort supported by all of the MobileToolbox Cores. The project will
function as the vehicle within which we develop and psychometrically evaluate our cognitive assessment tools.
We will do this by accomplishing the following specific aims.
Aim 1: We will develop a repository of public-domain cognitive ability measures that enhance the
assessment of cognitive change across the lifespan by enabling self-administered testing via iOS and
Android smartphones. The MobileToolbox measures will be designed around the technical specifications of a
flexible and open software platform that enables external researchers to customize use of the mobile app to fit
the needs of their studies. Researchers will be able to choose from a diverse selection of cognitive measures,
including several cognitive tasks highly sensitive to change, along with measures of contextual variables of
relevance to cognitive functioning (e.g., mood, personality, health status).
Aim 2: Evaluate the psychometric properties of MobileToolbox instruments through implemention of a
series of data collection protocols aimed at calibration, norming, and face-to-face validation against
existing gold standards. We will calibrate Item Response Theory based measures by administering them to
a large (N=4,800) general population calibration sample. All newly developed MobileToolbox measures will be
validated against existing gold standards in a sample of healthy adults ages 20-85. The validation protocol will
include face-to-face administration of the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery, core sub-tests of the Wechsler Adult
Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV), and additional tests as needed. During this cross-sectional validation session,
respondents (N=260) will complete the self-administered MobileToolbox via smartphone in an un-proctored
setting. Additional validation will be undertaken in existing clinical (e.g., cognitively impaired, Parkinson’s
disease) and general population (e.g. Healthy Aging Study, N=100,000) samples. Finally, we will identify
normative values for the MobileToolbox measures using a large, nationally-representative sample (N=6,800).
Sub-samples of respondents will be used to identify normative cognitive change by completing 3-, 12- and 24-
month follow-up assessments.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10212850
- **Project number:** 5U2CAG060426-04
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** MICHAEL W WEINER
- **Activity code:** U2C (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $937,166
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-15 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10212850

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10212850, The Mobile Toolbox for Monitoring Cognitive Function - Project (5U2CAG060426-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10212850. Licensed CC0.

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