Neuropsychology and the Law (Springer Series in Neuropsychology)

"We have had a number of interesting cases come to our attention over the years. The following are illustrative of some of the issues that can emerge at the interface between neuropsychology and the law. The first involved a patient suffering from a debilitating fear of heights. The fear seemed a reasonable consequence of the fact that he had been a passenger on a plane that crashed while attempting take off. Given that many of the passengers and crew died or were seriously injured, this man was quite fortunate. In fact, he could be said to have lived a charmed life. It had been just a year since he had been involved in an industrial accident in which he could have easily died. He came away from that accident with injuries to his legs and a concussion. That accident had also involved him falling from a considerable height so that there was some discussion among clinic staff about how well the patient's circumstances and symptoms fit the diagnostic category of "posttraumatic stress disorder." Supportive psychotherapy was used as an aid in dealing with his reƯ curring memories of the plane crash and systematic desensitization was quite successful in reducing the most disruptive consequences of his fear of heights. However, during the course of treatment, it became apparent that there were a number of problems that had not been addressed"--Font no determinada When the legal system requires neuropsychological assessments, it frequently puts neuropsychology itself on trial. Indeed, in personal injury litigation - a very visible area of neuropsychology as it relates to the legal field - the validity of judgements (medical and legal) and the competence of persons become extraordinarily important issues. New neuropsychological techniques emerge as new legislation develops and, while attorneys question the truth of neuropsychological findings, neuropsychologists look at the legal system in a creative and critical way. Neuropsychologists seek to augment and refine traditional assessment tools in response to the complex demands made by the court system. In testimony, neuropsychologists are asked to present complex scientific findings in a language that is not overly technical and not prone to misinterpretation. This book explores many areas of contact between the legal and the neuropsychological fields, and it interests neurologists, neuropsychologists, and neurosurgeons, as well as members of the legal profession. Front Matter....Pages i-xvi Neuropsychology and Its Applications to the Legal Forum....Pages 1-23 Minor Head Injury and the Post-Concussive Syndrome....Pages 24-38 Workers’ Compensation and Clinical Neuropsychological Assessment....Pages 39-63 Assessing the Neuropsychological Abilities of Children and Adolescents for Personal Injury Litigation....Pages 64-92 The Assessment of Competency in the Older Adult....Pages 93-134 Legal Applications of Electrophysiological Assessments....Pages 135-163 The Use of Neuroimaging Techniques in Brain Injury....Pages 164-185 The Problems of Prognosis....Pages 186-238 Can Competencies be Retrained? A Critical Appraisal of Cognitive Rehabilitation....Pages 239-261 Developing Legislation and the Concept of Disability....Pages 262-273 Back Matter....Pages 275-295