Week 12 - Neuropsychology PDF

WEEK 12 – NEUROPSYCHOLOGY Describe neuropsychology and outline the different methods of investigating and assessing brain function Describe the different causes of brain dysfunction Compare and contrast the symptoms associated with different neuropsychological disorders Neuropsychology – the subfiel...

WEEK 12 – NEUROPSYCHOLOGY Describe neuropsychology and outline the different methods of investigating and assessing brain function Describe the different causes of brain dysfunction Compare and contrast the symptoms associated with different neuropsychological disorders Neuropsychology – the subfield of psychology whose goal is to explore and understand the relationships among brain processes, human behaviour and psychological functioning. Neuropsychologists are interested in how brain systems and disruptions of those systems affect a wide range of human abilities, including cognitive functioning Clinical neuropsychologists – neuropsychologists who use tests and other methods to try to understand neuropsychological problems and intact functions in individual patients. Localisation of function – the idea that specific psychological functions can be affected by damage to specific brain areas Stoke – the loss of blood supply to some part of the brain, resulting in disruption of some aspect of behaviour or mental processes Lesion - an area of damaged tissue in the brain Modules – regions of the brain that perform their own unique kind of analysis of the information they receive Neuropsychological assessment – testing a patients intelligence, memory, reading, motor coordination and other cognitive and sensory functions in an effort to locate problems in the brain responsible for neuropsychological symptoms Principle Main figure or era Key ideas Localisation of Franz Gall – 1800s The idea that a specific psychological function function Paul Broca - 1800s could depend on a specific brain area Modularity Late 1900s A revision of localisation in which each brain area performs different, unique computations hat contribute to various psychological functions Networks Late 1900s A perspective suggesting that different complex psychological functions rely on unique combinations of brain modules Lesion analysis 1800s to present An approach to experimental neuropsychology in which psychological functions are linked to particular brain areas by studying patients with damage to those areas and comparing these people with people who have damage elsewhere or no damage Mechanisms of brain dysfunction Brain problem Underlying process Symptoms Cerebrovasular Blood flow is blocked in Specific to the area of the brain that is accident (stroke) some part of the brain destroyed Traumatic brain Brain moves back and Often non specific njury orth inside the skull Neurodegenerative A subset of neuron cell Specific to the types of brain cells disease ypes becomes diseased affected and stops working properly Neuropsychological disorders Amnestic disorders – loss of memory, consciousness disturbances, perceptual disturbances, movement disorders Traumatic brain injury – an impact on the brain caused by a blow or a sudden, violent movement of the head. When the brain bounces back and forth bumping against bone, causes nerve fibres to stretch and tear Cerebrospinal fluid – a clear liquid that surrounds and buffers the brain against vibration. Neurodegenerative diseases – conditions in the brain that result in a gradual loss of nerve cells and of the cognitive or other function in which those cells are normally involved. Perceptual disturbances – neuropsychological disorders in which there are impairments in the ability to organise, recognise, interpret and make sense of incoming sensory information Aphasia – neuropsychological disorders in which there are disruptions in the ability to speak, read, write and understand language Broca aphasia – language disorder in which there is a loss of fluent speech Wernickes aphasia – a language disorder in the loss of ability to understand written or spoken language and to produce sensible speech Movement disorder (Apraxia) - neuropsychological disorders in which there are impairments in the ability to perform or coordinate previously normal motor skill Dementia – neuropsychological disorders in which there are significant and disruptive impairments in memory, as well as in perceptual ability, language or leant motor skills Vascular dementia – a form of dementia caused by multiple restrictions of the brains blood supply Hemineglect, also known as unilateral neglect or spatial neglect, is a neurological condition in which a person is unable to attend to or respond to stimuli on one side of their environment, typically the left side. Syndrome Type of difficulty Apraxia Making learnt skilled movements even if not weak or confused Visual agnosia Attaching meaning to visual sensations Anosognosia Become aware of the loss of neurological function Hemineglect Paying attention to one side of space Aphasia Using language as a communication system Aprosodia Using tone of voice as a communication tool Dementia Memory and at least one other psychological ability hat are severe enough to impair functioning QUESTIONS The brain floats in a bath of cerebrospinal fluid inside the skul