Assessment of mercury neurotoxicity through psychometric and neurobehavioral testing: session summary.

Neurobehavioral disorders are well-recognized among the adverse health effects of exposure to mercury. The effort to characterize these effects in animals and humans has progressed steadily over several decades. This has included a variety of study designs, and employed a variety of measurement techniques to evaluate exposure of individuals and populations. The Twelfth International Neurotoxicology Conference, Neurotoxicity of Mercury: Indicators and Effects of Low-Level Exposure, included a plenary session on the predictive value of psychometric and neurobehavioral testing of animals and humans in assessing neurotoxic effects. This session provided a broad view of the methods currently in use to measure adverse effects on the nervous system, in particular those effects that might be attributed to mercury exposure.