For the past three millennia, there have been attempts to determine the link between damage to specific areas of the brain and behavioural differences.
Among many insights from Luria's rehabilitation practice and observations, was the fundamental discovery of the involvement of frontal lobes of the cortex in plasticity, initiation, planning and organization of behaviour.
With the advent of neuroimaging techniques, location of space-occupying lesions can now be more accurately determined through this method, so the focus has now moved on to the assessment of cognition and behaviour, including examining the effects of any brain injury or neuropathological process that a person may have experienced.
Secondly, to understand the nature of any brain injury or resulting cognitive problem (see neurocognitive deficit) and its impact on the individual, as a means of devising a rehabilitation programme or offering advice as to an individual's ability to carry out certain tasks (for example, fitness to drive, or returning to work).
The variety of scales available, the nature of the tasks, as well as a wide gap in verbal and performance scores can give clues to whether there is a learning disability or damage to a certain area of the brain.
[5] Tsatsanis and Volkmar believe that assessment can provide unique information about the type of disorder a patient has which allows the psychologist to come up with a treatment plan.
Assessment can also allow the psychologist to understand the developmental progress of the disorder in order to predict future problems and come up with a successful treatment package.
For neuropsychological assessments, researchers discover the different areas of the brain that is damaged based on the cognitive and behavioral aspects of the patient.
One area where neuropsychological assessments can be beneficial is in forensic cases where the defendant's competency is being questioned due to possible brain injury or damage.
This time, however, does not include the role of the psychologist interpreting the data, scoring the test, making formulations, and writing a formal report.
[4] Recent developments in the field allow for highly trained individuals such as psychometrists to administer selected instruments, though determinations regarding testing results remain the responsibility of the doctor.