Neuropsychological assessment
Encyclopedia
Neuropsychological assessment was traditionally carried out to assess the extent of impairment to a particular skill and to attempt to locate an area of the brain which may have been damaged after brain injury or neurological illness. With the advent of neuroimaging
techniques, location of space-occupying lesions can now be accurately determined so the focus has now moved on to the measurement of cognition and behaviour, including examining the effects of any brain injury or neuropathological process that a person may have experienced. A core part of neuropsychological assessment is the administration of neuropsychological test
s for the formal assessment of cognitive functioning. Aspects of cognitive functioning that are assessed typically include orientation, new-learning/memory, intelligence, language, visuoperception, and executive-functioning. However, clinical neuropsychological assessment is more than this and also focuses on a person's psychological, personal, interpersonal and wider contextual circumstances.
Assessment may be carried out for a variety of reasons, such as:
Miller outlined three broad goals of neuropsychological assessment. Firstly, diagnosis
, to determine the nature of the underlying problem. Secondly, to understand the nature of any brain injury or resulting cognitive problem (see neurocognitive deficit) and its impact on the individual, as a means of devising a rehabilitation programme or offering advice as to an individual's ability to carry out a certain tasks (for example, fitness to drive, or returning to work). And lastly, assessments may be undertaken to measure change in functioning over time, such as to determine the consequences of a surgical procedure or the impact of a rehabilitation programme over time.
Neuroimaging
Neuroimaging includes the use of various techniques to either directly or indirectly image the structure, function/pharmacology of the brain...
techniques, location of space-occupying lesions can now be accurately determined so the focus has now moved on to the measurement of cognition and behaviour, including examining the effects of any brain injury or neuropathological process that a person may have experienced. A core part of neuropsychological assessment is the administration of neuropsychological test
Neuropsychological test
Neuropsychological tests are specifically designed tasks used to measure a psychological function known to be linked to a particular brain structure or pathway. Tests are used for research into brain function and in a clinical setting for the diagnosis of deficits. They usually involve the...
s for the formal assessment of cognitive functioning. Aspects of cognitive functioning that are assessed typically include orientation, new-learning/memory, intelligence, language, visuoperception, and executive-functioning. However, clinical neuropsychological assessment is more than this and also focuses on a person's psychological, personal, interpersonal and wider contextual circumstances.
Assessment may be carried out for a variety of reasons, such as:
- Clinical evaluation, to understand the pattern of cognitive strengths as well as any difficulties a person may have, and to aid decision making for use in a medical or rehabilitation environment.
- Scientific investigation, to examine an hypothesis about the structure and function of cognition to be tested, or to provide information that allows experimental testing to be seen in context of a wider cognitive profile.
- Medico-legal assessment, to be used in a court of law as evidence in a legal claim or criminal investigation.
Miller outlined three broad goals of neuropsychological assessment. Firstly, diagnosis
Medical diagnosis
Medical diagnosis refers both to the process of attempting to determine or identify a possible disease or disorder , and to the opinion reached by this process...
, to determine the nature of the underlying problem. Secondly, to understand the nature of any brain injury or resulting cognitive problem (see neurocognitive deficit) and its impact on the individual, as a means of devising a rehabilitation programme or offering advice as to an individual's ability to carry out a certain tasks (for example, fitness to drive, or returning to work). And lastly, assessments may be undertaken to measure change in functioning over time, such as to determine the consequences of a surgical procedure or the impact of a rehabilitation programme over time.
See also
- clinical neuropsychologyClinical neuropsychologyClinical neuropsychology is a sub-field of psychology concerned with the cognitive function of individuals with neurological and psychiatric disorders. Neuropsychological assessment examines cognitive function in the broadest sense, including the behavioural, emotional, social and functional status...
- neurocognitiveNeurocognitiveNeurocognitive is a term used to describe cognitive functions closely linked to the function of particular areas, neural pathways, or cortical networks in the brain substrate layers of neurological matrix at the cellular molecular level...
- neuroimagingNeuroimagingNeuroimaging includes the use of various techniques to either directly or indirectly image the structure, function/pharmacology of the brain...
- neuropsychologyNeuropsychologyNeuropsychology studies the structure and function of the brain related to specific psychological processes and behaviors. The term neuropsychology has been applied to lesion studies in humans and animals. It has also been applied to efforts to record electrical activity from individual cells in...
- psychological testingPsychological testingPsychological testing is a field characterized by the use of samples of behavior in order to assess psychological construct, such as cognitive and emotional functioning, about a given individual. The technical term for the science behind psychological testing is psychometrics...
such as psychometricsPsychometricsPsychometrics is the field of study concerned with the theory and technique of psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, personality traits, and educational measurement...