Wada test
a technique for determining hemispheric functions, typically memory and language, by injecting a small dose of a barbiturate into the carotid artery on one side of the head. This procedure selectively impairs the cerebral hemisphere on the injected side for 10 to 15 minutes. While each hemisphere is separately anesthetized, various cognitive tasks are administered; impairments on these tasks suggest that these functions are represented in the anesthetized hemisphere. The Wada test may be used prior to temporal lobectomy in severe and intractable epilepsy. Also called intracarotid amobarbital procedure; intracarotid sodium Amytal test (ISA); Wada dominance test; Wada technique. [Juhn Atsushi Wada (1924– ), Japanese-born Canadian neurologist]