Structural and functional brain imaging for the neuropsychologist

The explosion of brain imaging technology over the past 2 to 3 decades has changed the face of the clinical neurosciences. Although a major role of neuropsychology during the development and history of the field has been to localize lesions, the speed, power, and sensitivity of current neuroimaging techniques have greatly reduced the relevance of neuropsychologists in that role (though not eliminated it). However, one of the revelations that has come with more sensitive imaging techniques is that there is a vast difference in presentation of patients, even when their brain lesions are quite similar on imaging studies. “Treat the patient, not the picture” is a common teaching point for neurological specialty medical doctors, and it is precisely that role that has defined the importance of comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation of the patient. Despite the lack of a perfect correspondence between brain imaging and cognitive function, it has become imperative that the neuropsychologist have at least a moderate level of familiarity with brain-imaging techniques, defining the goal of this chapter. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)