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37 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is Neuropsychology?
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Neuropsychological assessment is the study of human behaviour across the lifespan as it relates to normal and abnormal functioning of the central nervous system.
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What do neuropsychologists study?
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changes in thinking and behaviour arising from brain dysfunction caused by injury or illness.
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What are some examples of the types of illness or injury that cause brain dysfunction?
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- Head injury
- Epilepsy - neurological disease and stroke - drug and alcohol disorders - learning disabilities - attention deficit disorders - dementia - psychiatric disorders |
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Finish this sentence “Neuropsychologists deal with cognitive, emotional and behavioural problems related to…”
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brain dysfunction through assessment, rehabilitation, education and psychological therapy.
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Explain who and how the brain-behaviour relationship in the beginning
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- Started with A.R. Luria WW1
- 700 injured soldiers with penetrating head wounds which caused damage to the brain - Key insight that location of head wound/brain damage linked to particular loss of ability. |
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Finish this sentence “The brain is a number of linked…”
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functional systems with a complex interaction between systems
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What are some of the varied abilities that result from the neurocognitive functions in the cerebral cortex which make us individuals?
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- making sense sensory percepts and selecting corresponding behavioural responses
- remembering - imagination - use language and logic, planning, goal monitoring and judgement - regulation of mood and personality. |
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Describe Intellectual functioning from a neuropsychological perspective.
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o Inferred from behaviour
o Broad sample of behaviour across abilities o Developed from genes, biology (brain), environment, and educational opportunities o Predicts academic achievement (50%) |
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What are the three main skills do a neuropsychologist requires?
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1. Knowledge of brain organization
2. The ability to carry out detailed behavioural examinations, including standard psychometric tests. 3. The clinical judgement to produce an integrative report that describes the key results and their implications |
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What are the three main parts of the brain?
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1. Cerebral cortex
2. Brain stem 3. Cerebellum |
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Finish this sentence “Behaviour emerges from the…”
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entire brain and body
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Which part of the brain is primarily responsible for executive functions?
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Frontal Lobe
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Finish this sentence “Executive Functions are capacities that enable the person to…”
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Engage successfully in independant, purposive, self-serving behaviour
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What impairments may result from damage to the frontal lobe? (6)
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• Difficulty initiating task or a behaviour
• Perseveration (unable to stop) • Uninhibited and may appear rude • Difficulty solving problems and rigid thinking (incapable of creative flexible thinking) • Motor components of speech (Broca’s aphasia) • Selection of appropriate actions in response to input |
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What are four areas of impairment in the frontal lobe and what tests are used to assess these impairments?
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1. Idea generation – fluency tests (Phonemic (FAS), semantic (animals & boys names)
2. Planning and organization – (Rey complex figure test and tower test) 3. Inhibition (Stroop test) 4. Abstract reasoning |
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Why are the frontal lobes extremely vulnerable to injury?
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Due to their location and size
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What have MRI studies found to be the most commonly injured part of the brain and why?
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Frontal lobe due to optical cavities and bone structure
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Which part of the brain is primarily responsible for auditory processing and comprehension, odor perception, learning and memory (right = visual) and language functions: naming?
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Temporal Lobe
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What impairments may result from damage to the temporal lobe? (3)
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• Sensory input difficulties
• Language (comprehension – wernickes’ aphasia, and dysnomia – inability to name objects) • Memory problems (anterograde amnesia, verbal, visual (faces and scenes) |
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What are five areas of impairment in the temporal lobe and what tests are used to assess these impairments?
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1. Language (naming objects)
2. Auditory comprehension (word recognition (where is the phone)) 3. Commands of increasing complexity ((simple to multi-step) such as token task (show me the circle, show me the small white circle etc) along with Yes/no questions of increasing intensity) 4. Memory Tests o memory for new information: anterograde memory (learning tasks) o verbal memory test (word list learning) 5. Visual memory test (rey figure) |
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Which part of the brain is primarily responsible for sensation and perception, integrating sensory input, processing of music, mathematical reasoning and visual spatial attentional functions?
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Parietal Lobe
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What impairments may result from damage to the parietal lobe? (3)
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• Unilateral (left or right) mild hemiparesis and homonymous hemiparesis (loss of vision to the inferior quadrant)
• Neglect (line cancellation) • Alexia (problems with reading) • Agraphia (writing with writing) • Acalculia (problems with calculating) |
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What are three areas of impairment in the parietal lobe and what tests are used to assess these impairments?
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1. Visual attention (line bisection task)
2. Writing (observation) 3. Maths (calculation) – Weschler individual achievement test (WIAT). Evaluates the ability to identify and write dictated numerals and solve written calculation problems and equations involving basic equations |
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Which part of the brain is primarily responsible for visual functions (processing of visual information, including spatial arrangement, colour and motion) and visual perception (integration of visual elements)?
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Occipital Lobe
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What are two areas of impairment in the occipital lobe and what tests are used to assess these impairments?
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1. Visual field testing (for blindsight)
2. Perceptions of lines, figures, movement and colour (line orientation) |
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What are four limitations to the specificity between brain structure and function?
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1. No one to one correspondence
2. Boundaries of functionally definable cortical areas are vague and there are individual differences. 3. Cortical activity at every level is via a complex feedback loop 4. No such thing as a ‘pure test’ |
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What are six reasons why neuropsychologists assess patients?
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1. Localization of brain injury
2. differential diagnosis 3. identify strengths and weaknesses 4. monitor recovery or deterioration 5. medico-legal reasons 6. inform a therapeutic program |
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What is assessed by a neuropsychologist?
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Mental activity, intelligence and general ability, language and academic abilities, visuospatial and constructional skills, praxis, memory (encoding, storage, and retrieval of information), executive functions and adaptive behaviour, and personality, affective states, and motivation.
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What are two neuropsychological approaches to assessment?
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1. Traditional North American battery approach
2. Modern British/Australian/American approach – hypothesis testing |
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What are the 4 sources of information neuropsychologists use when interpreting the results?
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1. Quantitative information
2. Test scores: a sample of behaviour 3. Performance relative to normal sample (cutting across, group norms, pattern analysis) 4. Qualitative information – gaining insight into the individuals cognitive, behavioural and emotional functioning |
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What are some secondary influences which may impact on test performance?
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- social constraints
- motivation - acute states (sleepiness, illness, energy levels) |
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In what context are secondary influences especially important? And what is one test you must use when conducting as assessment in this context?
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- medico-legal settings
- formal tests of malingering |
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What are the typical components of a neuropsychological report?
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1. Purpose of the assessment
2. How the assessment was conducted 3. Findings including both tests and behavioural observations 4. Interpretation of findings - What are the specific cognitive impairments - Is there a likely diagnosis - What are the consequences or impact of the deficits or the injury 5. Recommendations |
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What are the four lobes and their specific functions?
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1. Frontal – Executive functions
2. Temporal – auditory processing and comprehension, odor perception, learning and memory & language functions: naming 3. Parietal – sensation and Perception, integrating sensory input, processing of music, mathematical reasoning & visual spatial attentional functions 4. Occipital – visual function and processing |
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Cortical areas are highly interconnected, however there is a lack of specificity due to what?
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compensation and the functional distinctions between lobes are vague
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Finish this sentence “Test results are one piece of the assessment process and represent a…”
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sample of behaviour
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Finish this sentence “Neuropsycholologists study changes in thinking and behaviour arising from…”
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brain dysfunction caused by injury or illness.
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