Pacific Neurobehavioral Clinic, PC

What is a neuropsychological evaluation? 

Neuropsychological evaluations provide comprehensive assessments of a person’s cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning, while taking into account different factors that could contribute to a person’s condition, including psychiatric, neurological, and medical conditions, effects of medications, psychosocial, cultural, and environmental factors. A neuropsychological evaluation can be a valuable first step to determine a proper diagnosis and help guide treatment planning. The right diagnosis that takes into account the whole picture then leads to comprehensive recommendations for treatment of the condition.

Neuropsychological domains assessed:

Neuropsychological evaluations typically assess the following areas of functioning:

• General intellectual abilities
• Academic achievement
• Motor and sensory functioning
• Attention and processing speed
• Expressive and receptive language abilities
• Visuospatial/perceptual abilities
• Learning & memory
• Executive functions (higher-order thinking abilities, i.e. problem-solving, abstract reasoning, etc.)
• Personality and emotional functioning

What are some reasons to get a neuropsychological evaluation?

Some common referral reasons for a neuropsychological evaluation include questions regarding:

• Measuring changes in thinking and behavior after a brain injury or medical condition
• Determining an accurate diagnosis due to changes in thinking and/or behavior (and recommending appropriate treatment)
• Differentiating between psychiatric and neurologic conditions
• Evaluating memory concerns and answering questions about possible dementia/neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease
• Evaluating for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or determining other contributors to attention problems.
• In non-clinical cases, neuropsychological evaluations might be requested by employers or organizations to determine someone’s fitness for duty or readiness to return to work after a medical event. 

How long does a neuropsychological evaluation take?

Depending on the reason for the evaluation and tests that are needed, the face-to-face time with the examinee can range from 2 hours up to 12 hours.