Cognitive Assessment for Clinicians

Book excerpt: The third edition of the best-selling Cognitive Assessment for Clinicians provides readers with an up-to-date, practical guide to cognitive function and its assessment to ensure readers have a conceptual knowledge of normal psychological function and how to interpret their findings. Organized into 8 chapters, this resource offers a framework in which various aspects of cognition are considered. This includes the representation of cognition in the brain (such as attention and memory), focal representation (such as language, praxis and spatial abilities), detailed descriptions of the major syndromes encountered in clinical practice, and discussions on taking a patient's history and performing cognitive testing. To ensure readers are aware of the latest developments in patient assessment and neuropsychological practice all content has been carefully revised by John R. Hodges to include essential updates on areas such as the pathology and genetics of frontotemporal dementia, and social cognition and major syndromes encountered in clinical practice such as delirium. This useful resource offers a theoretical basis for cognitive assessment at the bedside or in the clinic, and a practical guide to taking an appropriate history and examining patients presenting with cognitive disorders. This edition also includes the latest version of Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III), and 16 case histories on a variety of cognitive disorders illustrating the method of assessment and how to use the ACE-III in clinical practice. In addition, the appendix outlines the range of formal tests commonly used in neuropsychological practice.