Neuropsychological assessment

• The branch of psychology that focuses on the relationship between brain functioning and behavior

  Neuropsychology
• evaluation of brain and nervous system functioning as it relates to behavior.

  neuropsychological assessment
• A subspecialty within the medical specialty of neurology that also focuses on brain–behavior relationships (with more biochemical and less behavioral emphasis)

  behavioral neurology
• consist of brain and spinal cord

  central nervous system
• consisting of the neurons that convey messages to and from the rest of the body

  peripheral nervous system
• Each of the two cerebral hemispheres receives sensory information from the opposite side of the body and also controls motor responses on the opposite side of the body

  contralateral control
• may take the form of a lesion in the brain or any other site within

  the central or peripheral nervous system

  neurological damage
• a pathological alteration of tissue, such as result from injury or infection. Neurological lesions may be physical or chemical in nature, and they are characterized as focal (relatively circumscribed at one site)

  or diffuse (scattered at various sites).

  lesion
• a general reference to any physical or functional impairment in the central nervous system that results in sensory, motor, cognitive, emotional, or related deficit.

  brain damage
• organic brain syndrome


  organicity
• defined as an indicator of definite neurological deficit.

  hard sign
• an indicator that is merely suggestive of neurological deficit

  soft sign
• developed to help identify patients with symptoms characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease


  7 minute screen
• procedures that do not involve any intrusion into the examinee’s body

  noninvasive procedures
• involuntary motor responses to stimuli

  reflexes
• a progressive, neurological illness that may also have several nonmotor symptoms associated with it (ranging from depression to dementia)

  Parkinson's disease
• The neurons in the substantia nigra are responsible for producing dopamine, a neurotransmitter (or, a chemical facilitator of communication between neurons) essential for normal movement.

  substantia nigra
• unknown origin


  idiopathic
• a condition characterized by an “acting out” of dreams with vocalizations or gestures

  rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder
• a neurosurgical treatment for use with patients who have advanced

  PD. this procedure entails the surgical implantation of electrodes at specific sites in the brain.

  deep brain simulation
• clusters of stuck-together proteins that have the effect of depleting available dopamine and other brain substances (such as acetylcholine)critical for normal functioning.

  Lewy bodies
• results from the formation of a number of Lewy bodies in the brain stem and cerebral cortex that cause Parkinsonian-like symptoms,

  Lewy body dementia
• entails the use of high-tech imaging equipment to visualize the substantia nigra and gauge the amount of dopamine present

  DaTscan
• the examiner looks beyond performance on individual tests to a study of the pattern of test scores

  pattern analysis
• an instrument specifically designed to test abstraction and related ability, contains a number of proverbs along with standardized

  administration instructions and normative data.

  Proverbs Test
• defined as organizing, planning, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition of impulses and related activities associated with the frontal and prefrontal lobes of the brain.


  executive function
• designed to specifically evaluate the ability of cognitively impaired

  patients to access assistance in the event of an emergency

  Test of Executive Function in an Emergency (TEFE)
• general reference to any of many instruments and procedures used to evaluate the integration or coordination of perceptual and motor abilities

  perceptual-motor test
• the examiner says a letter of the alphabet and then it is the subject’s task to say as many words as he or she can think of that begin with that letter

  Controlled Word Association Test (formerly the Verbal Associative Fluency Test)
• available in both a child and an adult form, contains a variety of tasks

  such as naming common objects, following verbal instructions, and writing familiar words.

  Reitan-Indiana Aphasia Screening Test (AST)
• memory for things like driving a car, making entries on a keyboard, or riding a bicycle.

  procedural memory
• battery of tests that focuses on communication deficit

  Neurosensory Center Comprehensive Examination of Aphasia
• designed for use with severely impaired assessees who might otherwise perform at or near the floor of existing tests.

  Severe Impairment Battery