Neuropsychological Assessment
Introduction
•Neuropsychology is a field that brings together the neurology, psychiatry, and
psychology field of medicine.
•It involves assessing or determining the functioning of the human brain to
determine if it is affected by factors including psychological disorders or brain
injury (Casaletto & Heaton, 2017).
•The neuropsychological assessment focuses on comprehensively testing the
mental functions in a wide range, including a person's behavior with respect to
the brain's wellbeing.
•Various mental functions are tested through the neuropsychological assessment,
such as general intellect, learning, memory, processing speed, concentration,
executive functions, mood, personality, and visuospatial skills.
The goals of Neuropsychological Assessment
To help in the diagnosis of the mental illness. It is necessary for determining
factors that lead to changes in an individual's mental functioning or ability.
Cognitive changes in a person may be caused by different factors which can be
easily identified through the assessment (Casaletto & Heaton, 2017).. Using the
neuropsychological examination results and other tests, including brain scans and
blood tests, a diagnosis can be arrived at.
Determining the cognitive weaknesses and strengths of a person. When the
causes of neuropsychological disease or disorder have been identified, healthcare
workers have an opportunity to examine the cognitive functions affected (Casaletto
& Heaton, 2017).
A traumatic injury, for instance, may cause different dysfunctions, which are
presented differently by the patient. Using the assessment, a medical practitioner can
outline possible cognitive functions using symptoms like verbal problems to identify
the treatment or management procedure.
To help in identifying the best treatment or intervention plan for the
neuropsychological disorder or disease.
Treatment and management are essential when the disorder has been diagnosed
and results accurately analyzed (Diaz-Orueta et al., 2017). Cognitive abilities
which are affected are outlined with the healthcare workers having knowledge on
what to focus on.
The assessment will also, at some point, involve re-examining the patient,
enabling medical practitioners to recommend various schedules depending on the
improvement.
Issues that Shaped current neuropsychological assessment
Push to conduct evidence-based and quantitative assessment practice testing
neuropsychological diseases or disorders.
The process-based approach was used in assessing the disorders, which
emphasized understanding how and why an individual presented certain behavior
(Diaz-Orueta et al., 2017).
The approach was criticized due to its lack of rigorous psychometric analysis.
A qualitative approach was commonly used, possibly leading to errors in
analysis.
Thus, there was a need to use a quantitative assessment approach to ensure that
the symptoms of different disorders would be easy to assess.
The lack of emphasis on a clearly outlined biopsychosocial
understanding of people's behavior also influenced the changes.
Many past assessments overemphasized neurological and biological
factors in the neuropsychological assessment. Historical and
contextual factors essential in driving human behavior were not well
emphasized (Diaz-Orueta et al., 2017).
Thus need to ensure accurate information which would to best
analysis using all the factors; historical, contextual, biological, and
neurological factors.
The lack of consensual definitions of key concepts in
neuropsychology also caused the shaping of the neuropsychological
assessment.
The miscommunication caused by the challenge led to some of the
factors or symptoms of diseases being examined.
Researchers were triggered to explore more into issues related to the
field, which shaped the assessment for better management and
treatment of neuropsychological disorders (Diaz-Orueta et al., 2017).
The Stages of Neuropsychological Assessment
The neuropsychological assessment starts with inquiring about the patients'
treatment history in records. This information is essential to help the
neuropsychologists in the diagnosis.
Secondly, the people taking the assessment are engaged in providing subjective
data. The data is used to identify possible symptoms that the patient is presenting.
Neuropsychological tests are then conducted, which help in providing the
objective data for the analysis. The information provided is used to evaluate the
possible risk factors that might have triggered mental functioning problems (Diaz-
Orueta et al., 2017).
An analysis is finally provided, which is essential during the treatment stage.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder
Attention-deficit Hyperactivity disorder is a neuropsychological disorder that
leads to impulsivity, hyperactivity, and inattention. The disorder affects the behavior
of the person suffering from it, which may affect their functioning or development.
Hyperactivity-impulsivity is a clinical feature of Attention-deficit Hyperactivity
disorder. The social concentration of people with the disorder is poor, which causes
underperformance (Banaschewski et al. 2017).
Hyperactive and impulsiveness lead to the patients presenting certain behaviors
which show little concentration. These people excessively talk, make excessive
physical movements, and act without thinking.
Inattentiveness is also presented by persons with Attention-deficit Hyperactivity
disorder. These people have difficulties concentrating and focusing.
They present signs like having a short span of concentration, constant change of
activities, difficulties in organizing tasks, and poor memory due to reduced
attention (Banaschewski et al. 2017).
Assessment Tool
Brown Attention/executive function scale is a tool used to help diagnose and
evaluate Attention-deficit Hyperactivity disorder (Banaschewski et al. 2017).
The test is used to gather information on the brain function of a person seeking
attention for the disorder. Identifying similar objects in different positions is
among some of the activities the patients are exposed to.
Records from different environments such as schools on the abilities are
important in the tool. Tasks are given like reading comprehension, where the
rating is done.
References
Banaschewski, T., Becker, K., Döpfner, M., Holtmann, M., Rösler, M., & Romanos,
M. (2017). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a current overview. Deutsches
Ärzteblatt International,114(9), 149.
Casaletto, K. B., & Heaton, R. K. (2017). Neuropsychological assessment: Past and
future. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society,23(9-10), 778-790.
Diaz-Orueta, U., Blanco-Campal, A., Lamar, M., Libon, D. J., & Burke, T. (2020).
Marrying past and present neuropsychology: is the future of the process-based
approach technology-based?. Frontiers in psychology,11, 361.
