Basic issues in neuropsychological assessment

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Basic issues in neuropsychological assessment

• Introduction

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Health lack of

• Suffering
• Difficulties in adjustment
• Irrational and weird behaviour
• Easy to spot and unconventional behaviour
• Unpredictability and lack of control
• Obsrvers dicomfort
• Braking moral norms and ideals

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Neuropsychology

• What is a human?
• Neuropsychology tries to pursue the answer in the
  place where it should be logically found
• THE BRAIN

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• Study of the relation between human brain
  function and behaviour

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Modified from Kadzielawa, D. Neuropsychologia
kliniczna charakterystyka dyscypliny. In J.
Strelau (ed.), Psychologia. Podrecznik
akademicki, 2000, GWP, p.665
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• Clinical neuropsychology is an applied
  science concerned with the behavioral expression
  of brain disfunction

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Neuropsychology in society
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Ethical issues
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Goals of neuropsychological assesment

• Assessment aims to diagnose the presence of
  cortical damage or dysfuntion and to localize it
  where possible.
• Doing so, there is an attempt to provide an
  accurate and unbiased estimate of a persons
  cognitive capacity

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• Assesment is used to fcilitate patient care and
  rehabilitation. Serial assessments can provide
  information about the rate of recovery and the
  potential for resuming a previous lifestyle.

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• Neuropsychological assessment can identify the
  presence of mild disturbances in cases which
  other diagnostic studies have produced equivocal
  results. Examples are the effects of head trauma
  or the early symptoms of degenerative disease.

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• A related goal is to identify unusual brain
  organization that may exist in lefthanders or in
  people who have suffered childhood brain
  injuries. This particularly valuable to surgeons,
  who would not want, for example, to inadvertently
  remove primary speech zones while performing
  surgery. Such information is likely to be
  obtained only from behavioural measures.

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• In disorders, such as focal epilepsy, the primary
  evidence corroborating an abnormal EEG may emerge
  from behavioural assessment, because radiological
  procedures often fail to specifically identify
  the abnormal brain tissue giving rise to the
  seizures.

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• Some recovery of function may be expected after
  brain injury, this recovery must be documented
  not only with rehabilitation in mind but also to
  determine the effectivness of any medical
  treatment, particularly for tumors or vascular
  abnormalities.

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• Assessment assist a patient and the patients
  family in understanding the patients residual
  deficits so that realistic life goals and
  rehabilitation programmes can be planned.

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Cognition
Speech and language
Memory
Attention and goal dircted behavoiurs
Orientation in time and space
Emotions
Personality
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Bibliography

• Lezak, M., Howieson, D. B., Loring, D. W. (2004).
  Neuropsychological assessment. Oxford University
  Press
• Spreen, O., Strauss, E. (1991). A Compendium of
  Neuropsychological Tests. Adminisration, Norms
  and Commentary, Oxford University Press