Our ability to accurately assess and evaluate the neurobehavioral integrity of the newborn and young infant is of critical importance for research and clinical practice. It also has social policy implications because of the number of infants at risk born every year that need services. The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS) was originally developed for the NIH as a research tool to measure the neurobehavior of high-risk newborn infants (e.g. infants with prenatal drug exposure and preterm infants). The NNNS has become the “go to” research exam for these infants and is increasingly being used clinically as part of standard care to help with the management and treatment of these infants before hospital discharge. With several hundred publications, an extensive database and a wealth of clinical experience we developed a revision of the NNNS, the NNNS-II. The NNNS-II continues to provide a comprehensive and integrated view of the infant’s neurological, behavioral and stress functions as well as a rich base for individualized clinical intervention that has implications for infant behavior and caretaking. The NNNS-II has a shorter administration time and improved psychometric properties. The empirical summary scales were refined and items were retained that statistically contributed to the sensitivity and specificity of the exam. You can find more information on the NNNS-II on our training and certification program page.