What is neuropsychology?
Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology that is concerned with how the brain and the rest of the nervous system influence a person's cognition and behaviours. More importantly, professionals in this branch of psychology often focus on how injuries or illnesses of the brain affect cognitive functions and behaviours.
What does a neuropsychologist do?
Neuropsychology is concerned with the complex relationship between the human brain and behaviour.
A neuropsychologist is a psychologist who specializes in understanding the relationship between the physical brain and behaviour. The brain is complex. Disorders within the brain and nervous system can alter behaviour and cognitive function.
A neuropsychologist can assist in the identification and adjustment to brain-related difficulties, such as personality change, memory -, attention -, and reasoning difficulties amongst various others.
In South Africa, a separate registration as a neuropsychologist does not yet exist and neuropsychology may be practiced by a clinical-, counselling-, industrial- or educational psychologist with additional knowledge in the field of neuropsychology.
Neuropsychologists evaluate and treat people with various types of nervous system disorders. They work closely with doctors, including neurologists.
Illnesses, injuries, and diseases of the brain and nervous system can affect the way a person feels, thinks, and behaves. Symptoms that may call for a neuropsychologist include:
- memory difficulties
- mood disturbances
- learning difficulties
- nervous system dysfunction
If other doctors can’t identify the cause of a symptom, a neuropsychologist can help determine a diagnosis. If a diagnosis is already known, an assessment can still be helpful.
A neuropsychologist can help determine what impairments you might have and how severe they are. The following are examples of conditions they evaluate and treat:
- A stroke can affect behaviour, thinking, memory, and other brain functions in obvious or subtle ways. They can perform an evaluation to help determine the degree of stroke impairment.
- Parkinson’s disease, a progressive disorder, can cause several neurological problems. A neuropsychologist’s exam can provide a baseline to help them determine disease progression and decreased function.
- Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia can interfere with memory, personality, and cognitive abilities. A neuropsychologist can perform an exam to help them identify it in its early stage.
- Traumatic brain injuries can cause a wide variety of symptoms. A neuropsychologist can help determine how an injury affects functions like reasoning or problem-solving skills.
Neuropsychologists often work with persons who have sustained:
- Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) mild, moderate or severe after an accident.
- Strokes
- Brain tumours
- Dementia (including Alzheimer’s Dementia , Lewy Body Dementia , Vascular Dementia )
- Motor Neuron Disease
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Huntington’s Disease
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Attention Deficit Disorders
- Seizure Disorders
- Central Nervous System Infections
- Effects of chronic substance abuse
- Neuropsychiatric disorders
What is a neuropsychological evaluation?
Neuropsychological evaluation
This evaluation is an assessment of how your brain functions. The evaluation will include an interview and questions that will help outline your performance of daily tasks, as well as identify memory issues and mental health concerns. The interview will also cover information on symptoms, medical history, and medications you take.
An evaluation includes different types of standardized tests to measure many areas of brain function, including:
- memory
- cognitive ability
- personality
- problem-solving
- reasoning
- emotions
Brain scans, such as CT or MRI scans, can also help a neuropsychologist make a diagnosis.
Areas of specialization
- Medico-legal assessments, conducting interviews with clients and writing neuropsychological reports for attorneys following road accidents and personal injury claims
- Assessments of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)
- Assessments of c ortical and sub cortical dementias
- Oxygen deprivation
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
