Neuropsychological evaluations are requested as part of a comprehensive medical evaluation to assess whether different areas and systems of the brain are functioning properly, or whether deficits present are part of neurological disorders. Testing is usually recommended when the symptoms or complaints involve memory or thinking. This may be signaled by a change in concentration, organization, reasoning, memory, language, perception, coordination, or personality. Neuropsychological evaluations are helpful in differential diagnoses of disorders and is frequently part of the evaluation of problems such as: Memory loss Dementia – Alzheimer’s disease, vascular and other types Traumatic Brain Injury, ADHD, Cognitive Disorders, Stroke, Dementia associated with Parkinson's disease, and other medical conditions.
Children with developmental delays or autism spectrum disorders often require specific assessment procedures to make accurate diagnoses and identify the best treatment approaches. APG of Texoma has specially trained professionals with extensive experience in assessing such disorders as: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disability, Language Disorders, Neurodevelopmental Disorders, and Learning Disorders.
A neuropsychological evaluation is used to discover your child’s strengths and weaknesses as a learner. It can determine if the way your child’s brain functions effects his/her ability to learn. Neuropsychological evaluations are far more comprehensive than the evaluations typically given by school psychologists. School evaluations, officially known as psycho-educational evaluations, are free. They can help determine whether your child has a learning disability and is eligible for special education services.
Neuropsychology is concerned with relationships between the brain and behavior. Neuropsychologists conduct evaluations to characterize behavioral and cognitive changes resulting from central nervous system disease or injury, like Parkinson’s disease or another movement disorder. Some neuropsychologists also focus on remediation of or adaptation to these behavioral and mental changes and other symptoms.
Neuropsychological evaluation is an assessment of how one’s brain
functions, which indirectly yields information about the structural and
functional integrity of your brain. The neuropsychological evaluation
involves an interview and the administration of tests. The tests are typically
pencil and paper type tests. Some tasks might be self-reports meaning that
they are completed by the patient with assistance from a technician, but the
majority of the tests require administration by a neuropsychologist or
trained, skilled psychometrist.
Neuropsychological tests (unlike
bedside cognitive and behavioral
neurologic screens) are standardized, meaning that they are given in the
same manner to all patients and scored in a similar manner time after time.
An individual’s scores on tests are interpreted by comparing their score to
that of healthy individuals of a similar demographic background (i.e., of
similar age, education, gender, and/or ethnic background) and to expected
levels of functioning. In this way, a neuropsychologist can determine
whether one’s performance on any given task represents a strength or
weakness. Although individual scores are important, the neuropsychologist
looks at all of the data from the evaluation to determine a pattern of
cognitive strengths and weaknesses and, in turn, to understand more about
how the brain is functioning.
Neuropsychological tests evaluate
functioning in a number of areas
including: intelligence, executive functions (such as planning, abstraction,
conceptualization), attention, memory, language, perception, sensorimotor
functions, motivation, mood state and emotion, quality of life, and
personality styles. The areas addressed in an individual’s evaluation are
determined by the referral question (what the referring doctor and patient
wants to know), patient’s complaints and symptoms, and observations
made during interview and test administration.
A complete evaluation generally takes between two and five hours to complete, but can take up to eight hours, depending on the complexity of the issues to be addressed by the evaluation and the patient’s condition (for example, fatigue, confusion, and motor slowing can extend the time required for an evaluation). Occasionally, it is necessary to complete the evaluation over two or more sessions. In general, the clinician attempts to elicit the patient’s best possible performance under optimal conditions.
Neuropsychological evaluation documents patterns of strengths and weakness among cognitive and behavioral functions. For patients with Parkinson’s disease or another movement disorder, an evaluation and interpretation of this pattern of strengths and weaknesses can:
These are not tests that one can study for, but there are several things that one can do to facilitate the evaluation:
It is the goal of the neuropsychologist to get the best possible picture of the patient’s current functioning. Several things can interfere with this goal such as if the patient is:
Patients should let the examiner know if they anticipate that any of these issues are likely to interfere with the evaluation.
It is important to get a good night’s rest before evaluation.
Patients
who live
far away might consider spending the evening prior to the evaluation at a
local hotel or with friends or family rather than getting up and driving or
flying most of the night to get to the appointment. Patients are encouraged
not to consume any alcohol 24 hours prior to the evaluation. If taking sleep
medicine, patients should check with their doctor whether it might affect
test performance the next day.
Patients should not worry about
whether
they will “pass” the tests. The
tests cannot be passed or failed; instead they describe how well a person
performs relative to peers.