Write a 2 pages paper on theres no specific title. Psychology Explain and give examples to why it might be important to have a neuropsychological assessment to help with diagnosis, despite the high resolution imaging techniques available these days?
Neuropsychological assessments are tests conducted by neuropsychologists to test the memory, mood, behaviour and cognition of the human brain. The tests usually involve interviews with patients, reviews of their medical histories and comparisons with the majority of the population in order to diagnose a problem with its genesis on the brain. Neuropsychological tests take a long time to diagnose problems than the modern high resolution imaging techniques, which are almost instantaneous. However, this means that psychoanalysts have more time to accurately assess problems and come up with better solutions to cure the said conditions. Neuropsychological assessments have been proven to better diagnose and give treatment to patients suffering from Lyme disease, which may easily be diagnosed as a psychiatric disease (Fallon 1, 1997).
2. Why might it be important to be flexible in the selection and administration of neuropsychological tests?
There are various different tests that fall under neuropsychological tests. Some of these are more appropriate for some diseases than others are. Some of these tests include the Wechsler Scales used to test intellectual ability, Token Test used to measure learning abilities, Trail Making Test used to measure concentration in patients among many others (DAmato and Hartlage 1-100, 2008 ). The availability of all these tests used to measure different aspects of brain functioning means that a preliminary test has to be done to patients to figure out which tests are more appropriate for the particular condition the patient is suffering from. Inflexibility of tests could mean misdiagnosis. hence the wrong treatment given to patients and this could endanger their lives or make their conditions worse.
3. Describe the primary features of the dysexecutive syndrome including the common tests to assess them?
Dysexecutive syndrome is a social disorder that affects the executive part of the brain. This part is important to allow functions such as multi tasking, organizing skills and maintenance of attention. Its primary features include poor maintenance of attention, repeating the same tasks or sentences over and over again, poor memory and inability to perform tasks that require one to follow a series of steps (Halligan, et al. 24-50, 2004). This makes it difficult for people suffering from dysexecutive symptoms fit in at work places or at home since it is difficult for them to perform simple tasks. Tests used to test the dysexecutive syndrome include temporal judgement, Zoo Map, Rule Shift Cards, Action Program, Key Search and Modified Six Elements, each testing for the symptoms above (Gracey 12-56, 2008).
4. How would you go about assessing a patient who could not identify an object that was shown to him?
A patient that cannot recognize an object that has been shown to him, yet she or he does not have an eye defect that does not allow him to see clearly is likely to be suffering from a disorder associated with the brain (Lezak 1-25, 1995). The patient would be allowed to take the object in each hand and try to figure out what it is from the texture, shape and other features the object may have. If they still cannot do that, then the problem might be other disorders associated with their nervous system, rather than the brain, for instance asteriognosis. Furthermore, patients may be given different objects with different sizes and textures and their recognition of the object or not determined (Bottini 249-252, 2002).
5. Describe the central features of anosognosia, and the different ways in which the disorder can be present.
Anosognosia is a disorder in which a person who has a defect in their body is in denial about the defects. It was named so by a psychologist called Babinski in 1914 (Cutting 1, 1978). The condition is caused by lesions in either hemisphere of the brain. Its most central features include inability of the body to transfer information from one part to apathy and a defect in visual perception. The disorder presents itself in different forms. Some patients deny that they have a defect in the body (anosodiaphoria), some deny that the limbs are theirs and belong to other people (somatoparaphrenia), yet others hate their defected limbs, called misoplegia(Kaplan-Solms and Solms 10-50, 2000). Others are (anosognosic overestimation, kinaesthetic hallucinations, personification and phantom supernumerary limb.
References
Bottini, G. et al., 2002, Feeling touches in someone elses hand. NeuroReport.
13, pp. 249-252.
Brian A. Fallon, 1997. Functional Brain Imaging and Neuropsychological Testing in Lyme Disease. New York. Department of Psychiatry of Columbia University.
Cutting, J, 1978. Study of Anosognosia. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 41, p. 1.
D’Amato, R. C and Hartlage, L. C, 2008. Essentials of neuropsychological assessment: treatment planning for rehabilitation. New York: Springer.
Gracey, F. et al., 2008. Dysexecutive problems and interpersonal relating following frontal brain injury: Reformulation and compensation in cognitive analytic therapy (CAT). Neuro-Psychoanalysis, 10(1), pp 43-58.
Halligan, et al., 2004. Handbook of clinical neuropsychology. Oxford University Press.
Kaplan-Solms, K. L., and Solms, M, 2000, Clinical Studies in Neuropsychoanalysis: Introduction of a Depth Neuropsychology. London: Karnac Books.
Lezak, M. D, 1995, Neuropsychological assessment.
New York: Oxford University Press.
