Clinical neuropsychology
Clinical neuropsychologists use this knowledge in the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and or rehabilitation of patients across the lifespan with neurological, medical, neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions, as well as other cognitive and learning disorders.
[2] Assessment is primarily by way of neuropsychological tests, but also includes patient history, qualitative observation and may draw on findings from neuroimaging and other diagnostic medical procedures.
[medical citation needed] During the late 1800s, brain–behavior relationships were interpreted by European physicians who observed and identified behavioural syndromes that were related with focal brain dysfunction.
[3]: 3–27 Clinical neuropsychology is a fairly new practice in comparison to other specialty fields in psychology with history going back to the 1960s.
[4] Researchers like Thomas Willis (1621–1675) who has been credited with creating neurology, John Hughlings Jackson (1835–1911) who theorized that cognitive processes occurred in specific parts of the brain, Paul Broca (1824–1880) and Karl Wernicke (1848–1905) who studied the human brain in relation to psychopathology, Jean Martin Charcot (1825–1893) who apprenticed Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) who created the psychoanalytic theory all contributed to clinical medicine which later contributed to clinical neuropsychology.
[4] The field of psychometrics contributed to clinical neuropsychology through individuals such as Francis Galton (1822–1911) who collected quantitative data on physical and sensory characteristics, Karl Pearson (1857–1936) who established the statistics which psychology now relies on, Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) who created the first psychology lab, his student Charles Spearman (1863–1945) who furthered statistics through discoveries like factor analysis, Alfred Binet (1857–1911) and his apprentice Theodore Simon (1872–1961) who together made the Binet-Simon scale of intellectual development, and Jean Piaget (1896–1980) who studied child development.
[5] As a clinician a clinical neuropsychologist offers their services by addressing three steps; assessment, diagnosis, and treatment.
[5] In World War II (1939–1945) the term shell shock was changed to battle fatigue and clinical neuropsychology became even more involved with attempting to solve the puzzle of peoples' continued signs of trauma and distress.
[5] The Veterans Administration or VA was created in 1930 which increased the call for clinical neuropsychologists and by extension the need for training.
[5] The Korean (1950–1953) and Vietnam Wars (1960–1973) further solidified the need for treatment by trained clinical neuropsychologists.
[6] Alexander Luria is the Russian neuropsychologist responsible for the origination of clinical psychoneurological assessment after WWII.
[7] Building upon his originative contribution connecting the voluntary and involuntary functions influencing behavior, Luria further conjoins the methodical structures and associations of neurological processes in the brain.
[8] Luria developed the 'combined motor method' to measure thought processes based on the reaction times when three simultaneous tasks are appointed that require a verbal response.
[7] On the other side, environmental nature of clinical neuropsychology did not appear until more recently and is characterized by treatments such as behavior therapy.
[6] The relationship between physical brain abnormalities and the presentation of psychopathology is not completely understood, but this is one of the questions which clinical neuropsychologists hope to answer in time.
[9] A clinical neuropsychologist working as an employee of a hospital would receive a salary, benefits, and have a contract for employment.
[9] The second option of working as a consultant implies that the clinical neuropsychologist is part of a private practice or is a member of a physicians group.
[9] Assessments are used in clinical neuropsychology to find brain psychopathologies of the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional variety.
[10] Physical evidence is not always readily visible so clinical neuropsychologists must rely on assessments to tell them the extent of the damage.
[10] Accumulation of the knowledge earned from the assessment is then dedicated to developing a treatment plan based on the patient's individual needs.
[10] There are essential prerequisites which must be present in a patient in order for the assessment to be effective; concentration, comprehension, and motivation and effort.
Beyond this basic battery, choices of neuropsychological tests to be administered are mainly made on the basis of which cognitive functions need to be evaluated in order to fulfill the assessment objectives.
[13]: 62 The report should cover background to the referral, relevant history, reasons for assessment, neuropsychologists observations of patient's behaviour, test administered and results for cognitive domains tested, any additional findings (e.g. questionnaires for mood) and finish the report with a summary and recommendations.
The doctoral degree, internship and residency must all be undertaken at American Psychological Association approved institutions.
