Neuropsychological tests are specifically designed tasks used to measure a psychological function known to be linked to a particular brain structure or pathway.
Neuropsychological assessment was traditionally carried out to assess the extent of impairment to a particular skill and to attempt to locate an area of the brain which may of been damaged after head injury or neurological illness. With the advent of brain imaging techniques, location of brain damage can now be accurately determined so the focus has now moved onto the measurement of cognitive and behavioural effects of brain injury.
Assessment can be carried in a number of settings, for example:
- Clinical evaluation, to understand a patient's cognitive deficits or to aid decision making for use in a medical or rehabilitation environment.
- Scientific investigation, to provide information that allows an investigative hypothesis as to the structure and function of cognition to be tested, or to provide information that allows experimental testing to be seen in context of a wider cognitive profile.
- Medico-legal assessment, to be used in a court of law as evidence in a legal claim or criminal investigation.
See also
References
1Miller, E. (1992) Some basic principles of neuropsychological assessment. In J.R. Crawford, D.M. Parker, W.M. McKinlay (eds) A handbook of neuropsychological assessment. Hove: Laurence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 0863772749