Neuropsychological Assessment of Neuropsychiatric and Neuromedical Disorders

The earlier edition sat on my shelf for about a decade. When the new edition arrived I was at first uneasy, as I had trouble finding some sections that I had valued in the previous edition. However, this is because Grant and Adams have made a very substantial revision to the first edition. This edition has summaries of the neuropsychological research on the following conditions: Dementia (40 very dense pages), Parkinson's and Parkinsonism, Huntington's, Tourette's, Epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, cerebrovascular disease (30 pages), hypoxia in medical conditions, diabetes, HIV, alcoholism, drug abuse, metal exposure, schizophrenia, depression, and memory dysfunction in general. Opening sections on the theory of neuropsychological assessment and a closing five chapters on consequences of TBI, assessment of driving, everyday functioning, and ability to comply with treatment orders round out the book. The section on parkinsonism includes commonalities and differential diagnosis between Alzheimer's, parkinson disease (with and without dementia), Lewy body, PSP, and 3 subtypes of MSA. I just consulted this chapter to formulate hypotheses on a current case, and it matches very closely to the advice found in "Behavioral neurology of dementia." The section on toxins is limited to lead and mercury, with a nod to arsenic and thallium. The section on neuropsychology of drug abuse (my area of interest) contains reasonable clinical summaries of our current knowledge. That is, it includes the nature and degree of impairment that might be apparent to a neuropsychologist evaluating a patient in the clinic, while omitting the subtler deficits sometimes apparent to a researcher using, say, event-related potential EEG. In sum, this book is an excellent first reference for a clinical neuropsychologist to consult on a wide variety of neuropsychiatric and medical problems that may present in a particular patient. It is worth updating if you own the older edition.

A 1996 survey of the members of the American Board of Professional Psychology Diplomates, published by The Clinical Neuropsychologist journal, selected the first edition of this book as one of the Essential Books and Journals in North American Clinical Neuropsychology—a list which included only 10 other titles! The Second Edition has improved further on this high standard. While the authors have retained the same general structure—with the addition of a set of three chapters on psychosocial outcomes—virtually the entire book has been rewritten and thoroughly updated to reflect recent developments in this area of knowledge. Part I features new chapters on the Iowa-Benton approach, on cognitive screening methods, and on computers and memory. Part II has been expanded with new chapters on Tourette's syndrome, acute and chronic hypoxemia, HIV infection, schizophrenia, Huntington's disease, and an expanded chapter on Parkinson's disease. Part III is entirely new, and it focuses on life quality outcome in head injury and pulmonary disease. Considerably enlarged in size, this book will remain the basic reference on the neuropsychological aspects of diseases affecting brain and behavior.

Joseph Fink

Edited by two of the most eminent practitioners in the field, the second edition of this impressive volume consists of 23 chapters that summarize the neuropsychological aspects of major neuropsychiatric conditions. The book is organized to meet three broad goals. In the first section, some of the principal approaches to neuropsychological assessment of neuropsychiatric disorders are presented in concise chapters authored by leading proponents of these different traditions (e.g., Halstead-Reitan, Boston Process, and Iowa-Benton approaches). In the second section, the main body of the text, the neuropsychological characteristics of more than a dozen major neuropsychiatric disorders are summarized by respected authors. In the third section, new to this edition, several chapters are devoted to addressing the real life psychosocial consequences of neuropsychological impairment. Although the book focuses on the neuropsychology of various syndromes, its concise presentations should be valued by practitioners in allied disciplines (e.g., neurology, psychiatry) and by seasoned clinicians as well as trainees. Many of the chapters are illustrated by pertinent graphs, tables, and pictures. In other chapters, however, the reader would benefit from still further illustration of neuroimaging patterns and prototypic test material. In general, the currency and pertinence of the references are first-rate. The quality, usefulness, and currency of this book are outstanding; it is sure to be a classic in neuropsychology. The salience of the information it covers has grown substantially since publication of the first edition some 10 years ago. The book should be a must for academic libraries and onthe short list for clinicians' personal reference collections.

Around the world societies are facing growing aging populations with the concomitant increase in neuropsychiatric disorders. Neuropsychiatric disorders are organic brain diseases with psychiatric symptoms, as in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, that cause cognitive impairment, including dementia, amnesic syndrome, and personality–behavioral changes. As a clinical science, neuropsychiatry aims to explore the complex interrelationship between behavior and brain function from a variety of perspectives, including those of psychology, neurology, and psychiatry. This concise and updated monograph comprises the latest findings in the field and includes chapters on delusional symptoms, mood disorders and neurotic symptoms, cognitive impairment, behavioral and personality changes, and recently, cerebral alterations revealed in PTSD patients and in endogenous psychoses through neuroimaging and neuropathology. These findings will certainly widen the realm of neuropsychiatry going forward and will prove of great value to specialists as well as to academics and trainees in neurology, psychiatry, neuropsychology, neuroradiology, neuropathology, neurophysiology, neurochemistry, and clinical genetics. Ultimately, neuropsychiatry aims to prevent and reduce the suffering of individuals with the psychiatric symptoms of cerebral disorders. This is a major revision of a standard reference work for neuropsychologists, psychiatrists, and neurologists. About one-half of the book contains entirely new work by new contributors. New topics not covered in the previous editions include consideration of common sources of neurocognitive morbidity, such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and exposure to heavy metals; psychiatric and behavioral disorders associated wtih traumatic brain injury; neuropsychology in relation to everyday functioning; the effects of cognitive impairment on driving skills, and adherence to medical treatments. The Third Edition aims to reflect the enormous developments in neuropsychology in terms of research, clinical applications, and growth of the discipline during the past decade. At one time focused on mapping the cognitive and related consequences of brain injuries, research in neuropsychology has now expanded to much broader considerations of the effects of systemic disease, infection, medications, and inflammatory processes on neurocognition and emotion. The Third Edition attemtps to capture these developments while continuing to adhere to the objective of presenting them in a concise manner in a single volume. The second edition has raised the high standard of its predecessor even further. While the editors have retained the same general structure - with the addition of a set of three chapters on psychosocial outcomes - virtually the entire book has been rewritten to reflect recent developments. Part 1 contains two new chapters on the Iowa-Benton approach and on cognitive screening methods. The original chapter on computers has been replaced with a more specialized chapter on computers and memory. Part II has been expanded and reorganized. There are new chapters on Tourette's syndrome, acute and chronic hypoxemia, HIV infection, schizophrenia, and Huntington's disease. The chapter on Parkinson's disease now incorporates a broader discussion of the disease and other movement disorders. Part III is entirely new, and it focuses on life quality outcome in head injury and pulmonary disease