Editing Wada test (section)

==Method==
Medical professionals conduct the test with the patient awake. A [[barbiturate]], usually sodium amobarbital, is introduced into one of the [[internal carotid arteries]] via a [[cannula]] or intra-arterial [[catheter]] from the [[femoral artery]]. The drug is injected into one hemisphere at a time through the right or left internal carotid artery. If the right carotid is injected, the right side of the brain is inhibited and cannot communicate with the left side. The effect shuts down any language and/or memory function in that [[Cerebral hemispheres|hemisphere]] in order to evaluate the other hemisphere. An [[EEG]] recording at the same time confirms that the injected side of the brain is inactive as a neurologist performs a neurological examination. The neurologist engages the patient in a series of language and memory related tests. They evaluate the memory by showing a series of items or pictures to the patient and—within a few minutes, as soon as the effect of the medication dissipates—testing the patient's ability to recall.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://my.clevelandclinic.org/services/neurological_institute/epilepsy/diagnostics-testing/wada-test|title=Wada Test - Cleveland Clinic|website=Cleveland Clinic}}</ref> The test is typically administered by a neuropsychologist as a result of expertise in psychometric testing. Correlation with formal neuropsychological testing has some predictive power regarding seizure outcome following anterior temporal lobectomy.<ref>{{cite journal|pmid=9240237 | volume=38 | title=Neuropsychological evaluation in epilepsy surgery. | year=1997 | journal=Epilepsia | pages=S18–23 | doi=10.1111/j.1528-1157.1997.tb04535.x| last1=Loring | first1=D. W. | issue=Suppl 4 | doi-access=free }}</ref>

There is currently great variability in the processes used to administer the test, and so it is difficult to compare results from one patient to the other.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Hermann B |title=Wada test failure and cognitive outcome |journal=Epilepsy Currents |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=61–2 |year=2005 |pmid=16059438 |doi=10.1111/j.1535-7597.2005.05206.x |pmc=1176310}}</ref>