Adult Neuropsychology Division

The Adult Neuropsychology division of the Neurology Department is a neurodiagnostic, consultative service (not a mental health evaluation or treatment service) designed to evaluate the existence and extent of cognitive compromise in persons with known or suspected brain dysfunction. These exams are clinically indicated and medically necessary when patients display signs and symptoms of global intellectual decline or specific cognitive deficits (such as memory problems, language disorders, perceptual abnormalities, or decline in problem-solving). Unlike CT or MRI scans, which show what the structure of the brain looks like, neuropsychological testing examines how well the brain is working when it performs certain functions (for example, remembering). The evaluation provides information to assist in diagnosis, define brain-related strengths and weaknesses, and monitor changes in brain function following neurosurgical procedures, brain trauma, cerebrovascular disease, epilepsy, HIV, multiple sclerosis, or neurodegenerative diseases. Referrals are generally made by a neurologist, neurosurgeon, cardiac transplant surgeon, or primary care physician.