Neuropsychology for Psychologists, Health Care Professionals, and Attorneys PDF

Introduction

Neuropsychology for Psychologists, Health Care Professionals, and Attorneys, Third Edition, has been written for psychologists, physicians, nurses, rehabilitation specialists, and attorneys who have cases involving individuals with memory disorders, cerebral concussion, cerebral contusions, dementia, mild and severe brain damage, and posttraumatic stress disorder. One of the goals of this book is to provide a clear understanding of neuropsychology, its purpose, use, and historical development to individuals whose background and understanding in this area is limited.

This book covers the anatomy of the brain and a number of neurobehavioral and brain disorders in a clear and concise manner, which should be understood by virtually anyone with no prior background or knowledge of this area. It also provides the reader with a clear understanding of disorders such as postconcussion syndrome, posttraumatic stress disorder, frontal lobe disorders, executive dysfunction, mild traumatic brain damage, focal and diffuse brain damage, dementia, seizure disorders, and somatoform disorders. It also covers a number of controversial areas such as deception and malingering, scoring and interpretation of neuropsychological test data, test reliability and validity, the ecological validity of neuropsychological tests, the limitations of neuropsychological testing, and neurodiagnostic testing.

It presents a clear systematic approach to neuropsychological testing and assessment beginning with the patient's chief complaints, interviews with the patient's family and significant others, a history of the patient's symptoms, observations of the patient's behavior and mental status, and the importance of obtaining developmental, educational, family, vocational, legal, military, medical, neurological, and background psychiatric information. It carefully describes the strengths and limitations of different quantitative methods of test scoring and interpretation.

This text describes many of the neuropsychological tests that are currently used to evaluate children, adolescents, and adults with cognitive impairment. It discusses their strengths, limitations, and effectiveness in predicting whether an individual is able to live independently following brain damage, and return to work or school. It also discusses the limitations of our present neuropsychological tests in evaluating patients with specific neurobehavioral disorders.

Numerous case studies are presented throughout the book to illustrate the concepts described in this text. Six sample medicolegal neuropsychological reports are presented that have critically reviewed to demonstrate their inherent strengths and weaknesses. The book contains a glossary of neurological and neuropsychological terms, and list of the widely prescribed medications that are given to patients for a variety of psychiatric and neurological symptoms. The book also contains a summary of the strengths and limitations of neuropsychological tests that are covered in this book.

Because many psychologists, health care professionals, and attorneys frequently have difficulty in understanding many neuropsychological, medical, psychiatric, neurological, and neurobehavioral disorders and their terminology, we have made a concerted effort to present this material as clearly and concisely as possible.We have also included a glossary of neurological and neuropsychological terms to help the reader understand the terminology in this field. We list in Appendix A the various medications that are given to patients with psychological, psychiatric, and neurological disorders.