List learning tests are used in practice for diagnosis and in research to characterize episodic memory, but often suffer from ceiling effects in unimpaired individuals. We developed the Modified Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, or ModRey, an episodic memory test for use in normal and preclinical populations. We administered the ModRey to 230 healthy adults and to 86 of the same individuals 102 days later and examined psychometric properties and effects of demographic factors. Primary measures were normally distributed without evidence of ceiling effect. Differences between alternate forms were of very small magnitude and not significant. Test-retest reliability was good. Higher participant age and lower participant education was associated with poorer performance across most outcome measures. We conclude that the ModRey is appropriate for episodic memory characterization in normal populations and could be used as an outcome measure in studies involving preclinical populations.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test; memory; neuropsychological assessment; preclinical populations.