Age, education, and gender are the most common covariates used to define normative standards against which neuropsychological (NP) performance is interpreted, but influences of other demographic factors have begun to be appreciated. In developing nations, urban versus rural residence may differentially affect numerous factors that could influence cognitive test performances, including quality of both formal and informal educational experiences and employment opportunities.

Performance on some mental rotation tasks (the ability to manipulate three-dimensional objects in space) is negatively impacted by HIV infection. Worse performance on mental rotation tasks is also associated with worse performance on measures of executive function and working memory. These findings suggest that HIV infection may disrupt the fronto-striato-parietal network within the brain.

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