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Chapter 3: Neuropsychological Evaluation of Children and Adolescents

Anna W. Byars

INTRODUCTION

Neuropsychological evaluation makes use of a set of clinical procedures that consists of standardized, evidence-based methods of assessment aimed at determining the integrity of brain-behavior relationships. It involves the individual administration of behavioral tests by a clinical neuropsychologist or by a trained technician (psychometrist) working with the neuropsychologist, with the goal of documenting the relationship between brain and behavior. It is useful in measuring many categories of cognitive functioning, including the following:

  • Intellectual functioning

  • Academic achievement

  • Language processing

  • Visuospatial processing

  • Attention/concentration

  • Verbal learning and memory

  • Visual learning and memory

  • Executive functions

  • Speed of processing

  • Sensory-perceptual functions

  • Motor speed and strength

  • Motivation/symptom validity

  • Behavioral and emotional functioning

Examples of commonly used tests for each domain are listed in Table 3–1.

Table 3–1.Examples of commonly used neuropsychological tests.
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Table 3–1. Examples of commonly used neuropsychological tests.
Domain Neuropsychological Test
Intellectual functioning

Wechsler Scales

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–IV (WAIS–IV)

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–IV (WISC–IV)

Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence–IV (WPPSI– IV)

Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale–V
Academic achievement

Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT)

Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement, Fourth Edition
Language processing

Boston Naming Test

Multilingual Aphasia Examination

Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test

Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test

Verbal Fluency

Token Test
Visuospatial processing

Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure

Block Design

Judgment of Line Orientation

Hooper Visual Organization Test
Attention/concentration

Digit Span Forward and Reversed

Trail Making Test

Cancellation Tasks (Letter and Symbol)

Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT)
Verbal learning and memory

Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS)

Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test

California Verbal Learning Test

Hopkins Verbal Learning Test

Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning (WRAML)
Visual learning and memory

Wechsler Memory Scale

Visual Reproduction I and II

Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure

Continuous Recognition Memory Test

Visual-Motor Integration Test
Executive functions

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test

Category Test

Stroop Test

Trail Making Test–B

WISC/WAIS subtests of Similarities and Block Design
Speed of processing

Simple and Choice Reaction Time

Symbol Digit Modalities Test–Written and Oral
Sensory-perceptual functions Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery (HRNB) Tactual Performance Test and Sensory Perceptual Examination
Motor speed and strength

Finger Tapping Test

Grooved Pegboard

Purdue Pegboard

Grip Strength
Motivation

Test of Memory Malingering

Forced-Choice Symptom Validity Testing
Personality assessment/behavior

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)

Child Behavior Checklist

Behavior Assessment System for Children

Data from Lezak MD, Howieson DB, Bigler ED, et al. Neuropsychological Assessment, 5th ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2012.

Neuropsychological evaluation can assist the child neurologist by providing quantifiable data to guide the evaluation of the cognitive effects of various medical disorders and associated treatments and interventions (eg, see Bosenbark et al1). It can aid in the assessment of central nervous system lesions before and after surgical interventions. In the epilepsy surgery setting, it is an integral part of the presurgical evaluation and postsurgical follow-up.2,3 Neuropsychological data can ...

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