NEUROPSYCHOLOGY

Joseph Ryan HasSixtus Dane Ramos

Nikki Angeli SarmientoMonica Renee Policarpio

NEUROPSYCHOLOGY

Field of study that seeks to understand how the brain processes make human behavior and psychological functions possible.

HISTORY OF NEUROPSYCHOLOGY

Neuropsychology emerged in the mid-20th Century

Rooted in two lines of 19th century thinking Localization of Function Cerebral Hemispheres functioned as a

single unit

LOCALIZATION OF FUNCTION

Advocated by Franz Gall and Johann Spurzheim

Phrenology – Individual differences in personality and intelligence could be assessed by bumps or indentions in the surface of the skull; certain functions were localized in certain brain areas.

SINGULARITY IN FUNCTION

Cerebral hemispheres functions as a single unit

Karl Lashley’s Equipotentiality– emphasized the capacity of one area of the cortex to take over the functions of a destroyed area

DEVELOPMENT OF NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES

Alfred Binet assessed children with brain damage; beginning of modern intelligence tests.

Psychoneurolgical Institute in Russia was established in 1907 dedicated to studying effects of brain damage

Ward Halstead founded a neuropsychology laboratory in University of Chicago in 1935 and observed persons with brain damage in natural settings.

Halstead used test battery – set of several different tests designed to complement each other and assess all key categories of psychological functions.

Ralph Reitan started a neuropsychology laboratory at the Indiana University Medical Center

Reitan revised Halstead’s test battery and included Wechsler Intelligence Test and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory – Halstead-Reitan Battery.

World War II advanced research in neuropsychology and assessment methods.

SPLIT BRAIN RESEARCH

Roger Sperry and colleagues at California Institute of Technology studied the effects of cutting the corpus callosum in preventing the spread of epileptic seizures.

Research detected no significant differences between normal people and split-brain patients.

RESEARCH ON NORMAL BRAINS

Tachistoscope – device that displays visual stimuli for a very brief period of time.

Tachistoscopic Methods – directed entry of visual stimuli into one hemisphere and measured the person’s accuracy of performance or reaction time in response.

Documented and confirmed unique hemispheric superiorities for a wide variety of cognitive and perceptual tasks.

BASIC PRINCIPLES

Localization of Function Localizationist View: Specific areas of the

brain are responsible for specific behaviors and psychological functions.

Globalist View: Each area of the brain has its own specialization but these areas work together to achieve a holistic function.

BASIC PRINCIPLES

Modularity Modular View: Brain regions (modules)

that specialize in certain functions often interact with other modules that may process information differently.

A complex psychological function is controlled by several brain modules that are working together in a “network.”

BASIC PRINCIPLES

Levels of Interaction The brain’s modules are connected in

multiple levels.

These modules are organized in a global to local fashion.

BASIC PRINCIPLES

Lateralization of Function Certain psychological functions are more

lateralized in one brain hemisphere than the other.

Left Hemisphere: speech and linguistic processing

Right Hemisphere: supraordinate levels of language communication; social communication

PATTERNS OF NEUROLOGICAL DYSFUNCTIONS

Occipital Lobe Visual processing center of the brain Damage to this usually causes blindness or

visual impairment Parietal Lobe

Integrates sensory information from different cortical modules

Damage to this usually affects attention and awareness of spatial location (e.g. hemineglect, simultanagnosia)

TEMPORAL LOBE DYSFUNCTION

People with temporal lobe dysfunction may experience: Difficulty in naming seen objects (visual

agnosia) Disruption in memory (e.g. inability to form

new long-term memories) Temporal lobe epilepsy

FRONTAL LOBE DYSFUNCTION

People with frontal lobe dysfunction may experience: Disruption in social and emotional

functioning Deficits in planning and organizing

Perseveration Echolalia Exhopraxia Abulia Akinetic mutism

NEUROPSYCHOLOGY

seeks to understand how the brain, through structure and neural networks, produces and controls behavior and mental processes, including emotions, personality, thinking, learning and remembering, problem solving, and consciousness.

particularly in the case of how damaged or diseased brain structures alter behaviors and interfere with mental and cognitive functions

NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT the administration of objective psychological

tests and related procedures that are proven sensitive to the effects of brain injury;

the selection of examination procedures that are specific for measuring functional changes due to impairment of specific cognitive domains;

WHAT DO NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS MEASURE? Attention and Processing Speed

Motor Performance

Sensory Acuity

Working Memory

Learning and Memory

WHAT DO NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS MEASURE? Intelligence

Language

Calculation

Visuospatial Analysis

Problem Solving and Judgment

WHAT DO NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS MEASURE? Abstract Thinking

Mood and Temperament

Executive Functions

SAMPLES OF TESTS… Annett Handedness Questionnaire

Please indicate which hand you habitually use for each of the following:

(R, L or E)

1. Writing2. Throwing a ball3. Holding a racquet 4. Striking a match5. Cut with scissors6. Threading a needle7. At top of broom8. At top of shovel9. To deal cards10. To hammer a nail11. To hold a toothbrush12. To unscrew a lid

SAMPLES OF TESTS…

Figure/ground discrimination – separate figure from background

SAMPLES OF TESTS…

The embedded figures test – task is to find all the objects in this figure.

SAMPLES OF TESTS…The objects in the embedded figures test stimulus

SAMPLES OF TESTS…

The Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (Osterrieth, 1946)

SAMPLES OF TESTS…

SAMPLES OF TESTS…

Graded Naming Test examples – test has 30 of these, presented in order of increasing difficulty Boston Naming Test examples

SAMPLES OF TESTS…

Pyramid

Palm Tree

Fir Tree

3 Picture Version 3 Word Version

Pyramid and Palm Trees Test – which one of the two lower items goes with the upper item?

SAMPLES OF TESTS…Trails A

8

24

3

1

95

6

107

Trails B

A

24

B

1

CD

E

35

Trails A and Trails B – from Halstead-Reitan test battery

SAMPLES OF TESTS…

Samples of Tests…

Samples of Tests…

Sort by number

Sort by color

Wisconsin Card Sort Task

LEFT HEMISPHERE OF THE BRAIN

Functions are: Expressive speech Receptive language Language(general) Complex motor functions Vigilance Liaison to consciousness Sequential processing Ideation

Conceptual similarities Temporal analysis Analysis of details Arithmetic Writing Right- left orientation

RIGHT HEMISPHERE OF THE BRAIN

Functions are: Spatial orientation Simple language comprehension Non- verbal ideation Picture and pattern sense Performance like functions Spatial integration Gestalt perception Intuitive problem solving

Creative associative thinking Facial recognition Sound recognition Non- verbal paired associate thoughts Tactile perception Picture processing Simultaneous processing

DEPRESSION

Rises with increasing proximity of the lesion to the frontal part of the brain.

Left- brain damage often shows catastrophic reactions such as tearfulness, despair and other symptoms of depression.

The closer the lesion is to the frontal pole of the left hemisphere, the more severe the depression.

LEFT FRONTAL LOBE

Contains most of the Dopamine- sensitive neurons in the cerebral cortex.

Dopamine: a neurotransmitter that is responsible for reward- driven learning, attention, short- term memory tasks, planning and motivation.

Functions involve the ability to recognize future consequences, choose between good and bad actions, override and suppress socially unacceptable responses, and determine similarities and differences between things and events.

ACCORDING TO STUDIES…

Left hemisphere in people who are clinically depressed is typically less active than the right hemisphere.

Similarly when people who are not clinically depressed are feeling sad, the LHis less active than the RH.

When visual stimuli are projected to both hemispheres, the LH typically rates pictures as more positive than the RH.

LH play some role in maintaining a positive perspective.

SCHIZOPHRENIA

Hypofrontality of the brain When measured through assessment,

brain imaging studies and studies measuring cerebral blood flow, left- prefrontal region is abnormal because it is not activated.

Decrease level of Dopamine in prefrontal cortex of the brain.

Negative and positive symptoms of schizophrenia can also be seen to patients with structural lesions to prefrontal regions of the LH

LEARNING DISABILITIES

DEVELOPMENTAL DYSLEXIA

Disruptions in the ability to read. Usually related to dysfunction of the

left hemisphere. 3 Areas of the left hemisphere are

affected: 1. Broca’s Area ( affects articulation

and word analysis) 2. Left parietotemporal Area (affects

word analysis) 3. Left occipitotemporal Area ( affects

recognizing word forms)

DYSCALCULA

Innate difficulty in learning or comprehending arithmetic.

The intraparietal sulcus in the left hemisphere of the brain is affected. (junction between the temporal and parietal lobes of the crebral cortex.

ATTENTION DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER

Brain volume reduction (3%- 4% slightly smaller than normal) in the left- sided prefrontal cortex.

Features of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity may reflect frontal lobe dysfunction.

NON- VERBAL LEARNING DISABILITIES

Involves deficits in visuospatial and visuomotor skills like dressing, eating and organizing.

Deficits in the right hemisphere of the brain.

Neuropsychologists use Wechsler Intelligence Scale for children to look for discrepancy between verbal and performance IQ.

STATUS OF CLINICAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGY

Late 1960’s- International Neuropsychological Society (INS) was founded

1970’s- clinical neuropsychology emerged as a distinctive professional specialty.

1980- Division of clinical neuropsychology was formed within the American Psychological Association(APA).

1996- APA designated clinical neuropsychology as a specialty( similar to clinical counseling, or health psychology).

September 1997- a group of specialists and educators meeting in Houston, Texas, developed guidelines for the training of clinical neuropsychologists. It includes the use of imaging methods in brain testing such as Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging(fMRI).