introduction to neuropsychology Flashcards
what is neuropsychology
assess cognitive function, behavioural function and emotional responsesafter brain damage assessing congitive capacity
consulting with different specialists to come up with an accurate diagnosis
what is the main protocol for assessing cognitive function
pre-morbid function (how well they used to do ie looking at their educational success)
then look at level of consciousness
(alert, coma), need to consider other reasons that may affect this, like mental illness (depression, anxiety), and infections
measure their senses
(what is their hearing, vision, taste, touch like?)
looking at verbal abilities
(comprehension, coverseration)
-They may not be english speakers so not always great
-some test may be a combination of both like vision and verbal (when looking at paper)
test their everyday malingering
people with dementia can pass this test so if you don’t pass this, it could indicate that they are lying and faking cognitive decline (exaggerating symptoms), checking for inconsistencies
test for attention
(can they sustain it, divided-paying attention to 2 tasks at the same time, selective)
processing speed
(injury to brain can decrease speed processing.)
normally decreases with age
motor ability
assessing visual-spatial skills
assessing language
Expressive: what you can output.
Receptive: what you can understand
assessing memory
-anterograde, retrograde
-LTM, STM
-explicit, implicit
assessing executive function
-attention, planning and organision
which region is procedural/ implicit memory processed in brain
Procedural/implicit memory is found in the basal ganglia. If you don’t have damage to this it remains intact.
Basal ganglia damage – this type of memory is impaired
what are the benefits of neuropsychological assessments
to understand the level of impairment and in what regions of the brain are associated with these impairments, aiding in diagnosis and treatment interventions and guiding clinical tests.
