neuropsychology

Question 1

neuropsychology

Answer 1

the subfield of psychology whose goal is to explore and understand the relationships among brain processes, human behavior and psychological functioning

Question 2

clinical neuropsychologists

Answer 2

neuropsychologists who use tests and other methods to try to understand neuropsychological problems and intact functions in individual patients

Question 3

localization of function

Answer 3

the idea that specific psychological functions can be affected by damage to specific brain areas

Question 4

stroke

Answer 4

a loss of blood supply to some part of the brain, resulting in brain damage that disrupts some aspects of behavior or mental processes

Question 5

lesion

Answer 5

an area of damaged tissue in the brain

Question 6

modules

Answer 6

regions of the brain that perform their own unique kind of analysis of the information they receive

Question 7

neuropsychological assessment

Answer 7

testing a patient’s intelligence, memory, reading, motor coordination, and other cognitive and sensory functions in an effort to locate problems in the brain responsible for neuropsychological symptoms

Question 8

traumatic brain injury

Answer 8

an impact on the brain caused by a blow or a sudden, violent movement on the head

Question 9

cerebrospinal fluid

Answer 9

a clear liquid that surrounds and buffers the brain against vibration

Question 10

neurodegenerative diseases

Answer 10

conditions in the brain that result in a gradual loss of nerve cells and of the cognitive or other functions in which those cells are normally involved

Question 11

syndrome

Answer 11

a pattern of symptoms associated with a specific disorder

Question 12

amnestic disorders

Answer 12

neuropsychological disorders that involve memory loss

Question 13

anterograde amnesia

Answer 13

a loss of memory of events that occur after a brain injury

Question 14

Korskaoff’s syndrome

Answer 14

an amnestic condition in people whose thiamine level is depleted by inadequate nutrition of alcoholism

Question 15

confabulation

Answer 15

a characteristic of some neuropsychological disorders in which patients report false memories

Question 16

consciousness disturbances

Answer 16

neuropsychological disorders in which there are impairments in the ability to be aware of the world

Question 17

reticular formation

Answer 17

a collection of cells and fibers in the hindbrain and midbrain that are involved in arousal and attention

Question 18

delirium

Answer 18

periods of abnormally impaired or abnormally elevated levels of consciousness

Question 19

perceptual disturances

Answer 19

neuropsychological disorders in which there are impairments in the ability to organize, recognize, interpret, and make sense of incoming sensory information

Question 20

language disorders

Answer 20

neuropsychological disorders in which there are disruptions in the ability to speak, read, write, and understand language

Question 21

Broca’s aphasia

Answer 21

a language disorder in which there is a loss of fluent speech

Question 22

Wernicke’s aphasia

Answer 22

a language disorder in which there is a loss of ability to understand written or spoken language and to produce sensible speech

Question 23

apraxia

Answer 23

neuropsychological disorder in which there are impairments in the ability to perform or coordinate a previously learned motor skills

Question 24

dementia

Answer 24

neuropsychological disorders in which there are significant and disruptive impairments in memory, as well as in perceptual ability, language, or learned motor skills

Question 25

Alzheimer’s disease

Answer 25

Dementia resulting from a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the loss of cognitive functions

Question 26

vascular dementia

Answer 26

a form of dementia caused by multiple restricitions of the brains’s blood supply