Neuropsychological Assessment Flashcards
What is the main benefit of a neuropsychological assessment?
A standardised snapshot of behaviour
Percentiles/ IQ
What are the limitations of the standard tests?
The standardisation sample
eg if a patient doesn’t have English as their first language/different cultural background/different pre morbid abilities.
What type of scan would be useful for white matter change?
MRI (T1)
What type of scan would be useful for looking at older bleeds?
MRI
What type of scan would be useful for looking at acute bleeds?
CT scan
What domains of cognition are looked at in a neuropsychological assessment?
Pre morbid abilities
General intellectual functioning
Memory
Language
Visuospatial perception
Attention
Executive functions
Praxis
Mood behaviour and personality
What test may be used for general intellectual functioning?
Wechsler (WAIS-IV)
How would you estimate pre morbid ability
Reading test (such as test of pre morbid functioning)to predict which words they would have known before.
What disorders/injuries would impair reading?
Alzheimer’s
Parietal lobe lesions
What kind of damage is the Rey Osterreith figure test sensitive to?
Right hemisphere lesions
What is an ecologically valid test of attention?
Test of Everyday Attention
What are the components of the psychiatric assessment?
History
Mental state examination
Physical examination
(Summary, formulation, plan)
What are the components oh history?
Presenting complaints
History of presenting complaints
Past psychiatric Hx
Past medical Hx
Medication Hx
Family Hx
Personal Hx
Social Hx
Pre morbid personality
Why might someone else have greater complaint than the patient?
Cognitive impairment might not be clear to the person experiencing it
Some disorders reduce insight
What aspects would you look at in history of presenting complaint?
Chronology
Nature
Precipitating of relieving factors
Associations or potentially related problems
