Healthcare Professional

A clinical neuropsychological evaluation provides a thorough standardized assessment of a patient's cognitive functioning, and frequently plays a role not only in inpatient and outpatient medical settings, but in medico-legal settings as well. A neuropsychological assessment provides an in-depth view of a patient's brain functioning. Abilities frequently examined include, but are not limited to: learning remembering information, problem solving, comprehension and multitasking. The length of the assessment varies substantially depending on the purpose of the evaluation and the attending neuropsychologist, and may range from one to several hours.

The neuropsychological report integrates a wide range of information, including a patient's medical and psychosocial history, to create a full and rich picture of the patient's current cognitive functioning. An assessment can be invaluable in determining diagnosis, prognosis and prediction of the treatment response across a variety of disorders and concerns. Common referral questions include:

• Determine decision making capacity 
• Diagnose dementia
• Establish cognitive baseline
• Monitor changes in cognitive abilities over time
• Predict ability to return to work
• Examine impact of neuromedical conditions such as stroke, head injury, multiple sclerosis, cardiovascular problems, depression, brain tumors, epilepsy, and chronic substance abuse.