Psychology Press

About the Book

This volume is designed to be a practical guide for the clinician using neuropsychological tests in the assessment of elderly patients. It presents concise overviews of the major neuropsychiatric syndromes affecting the elderly, the use of brain imaging in differential diagnosis, interpretation of test results, and how to generate useful treatment recommendations.  Most chapters are devoted to one disorder that affects cognition (e.g. Alzheimer's Disease) and all follow the same format: A first section reviews the disorder in terms of epidemiology, presenting symptoms, typical course, neuropathology (if known), and the presentation of brain imaging, including CT, MRI, and functional imaging (PET, SPECT). A second section is in case presentation format and reviews one or two prototypical and atypical cases. It includes history, brain imaging, test data with raw scores and percentiles, and interpretation. Case management and treatment recommendations based on history and test data are presented. Limitations of the test battery and difficulties in interpretation due to ethnic, cultural, and limited education are discussed.