Leaders in neuropsychology, behavioral neurology, speech and language science, neuropsychiatry, and many other disciplines contribute to this volume, the first comprehensive review of knowledge in the field. They discuss a wide range of disorders, including areas of recent research - such as frontal lobe dementias and the neuropsychological aspects of late life depression - and clinical problems typically given insufficient consideration in other works, such as seizure disorder, head injury, and mental retardation. Normal aging is also covered in detail, and assessment procedures and clinical interventions are given thorough treatment. Other highlights include discussions of guardianship and caregiving personality and behavior, psychotic disorders, Alzheimer's, and head trauma.

With the aging of the baby boomers and medical advances that promote longevity, older adults are rapidly becoming the fastest growing segment of the population. As the population ages, so does the incidence of age related disorders. Many predict that 15% - 20% of the baby-boomer generation will develop some form of cognitive decline over the course of their lifetime, with estimates escalating to up to 50% in those achieving advanced age. Although much attention has been directed at Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, it is estimated that nearly one third of those cases of cognitive decline result from other neuropathological mechanisms. In fact, many patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease likely have co-morbid disorders that can also influence cognition (i.e., vascular cognitive impairment), suggesting mixed dementias are grossly under diagnosed. The Clinical Handbook on the Neuropsychology of Aging and Dementia is a unique work that provides clinicians with expert guidance and a hands-on approach to neuropsychological practice with older adults. The book will be divided into two sections, the first addressing special considerations for the evaluation of older adults, and the second half focusing on common referral questions likely to be encountered when working with this age group. The authors of the chapters are experts and are recognized by their peers as opinion leaders in their chosen chapter topics. The field of neuropsychology has played a critical role in developing methods for early identification of late life cognitive disorders as well as the differential diagnosis of dementia. Neuropsychological assessment provides valuable clinical information regarding the nature and severity of cognitive symptoms associated with dementia. Each chapter will reinforce the notion that neuropsychological measures provide the clinician with sensitive tools to differentiate normal age-related cognitive decline from disease-associated impairment, aid in differential diagnosis of cognitive dysfunction in older adults, as well as identify cognitive deficits most likely to translate into functional impairments in everyday life.

This ambitious and important second edition of the Handbook of Medical Neuropsychology takes an in-depth approach to the medical conditions and methods of neurorehabilitation. Comprehensive in scope and highly detailed in its coverage, the second edition, like the first, characterizes the effects of disease and the impact of interventions in the current state of advanced medicine at a level appropriate both for researchers and for clinicians. Featuring the most up-to-date information and quantitative research on cognitive neuroscience of autism, HIV/AIDS, cancer, head injury, respiratory diseases, endocrine diseases, early birth injury, dementia, and other disorders, the book handles theory, historical background, practical considerations, and controversial areas with evidence based disease indicators, clinical expertise, and real-world insight. It seeks to critique diagnostic and assessment tools specific to disorders. The new chapters in this inclusive second edition reflect the changes in prominent problems found in the clinic and provide worthy insights for research investigation in their review of: Substance use disorders. Nutrition in neurocognition and mental health. Hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Traumatic brain injury in very early childhood. Cognitive functioning in asthma. The role of mindfulness in neurorehabilitation. The Handbook of Medical Neuropsychology, 2nd Edition continues to be an essential resource for the neuropsychology clinician, researcher, practitioner or graduate student. It will be stimulating and relevant reading for years to come.

The growth of clinical neuropsychology has been unprecedented. This growth has been oriented more toward the provision of than toward the foundation for services. Thus, while a greater number of psychologists are performing a greater number of neuropsychological procedures, there seems to us an uneven parallel growth between these services and the empirical foundations for them. It should come to no one's surprise that increasingly aggressive attacks on the field have been leveled. Despite these attacks, clinical neuropsychology con tinues to enjoy exceptional growth within psychology and acceptance by other health practitioners, insurance companies, legislators, judges, juries, and above all, consumers of our services. Growth without self-reflection is a dangerous enterprise, as is growth without directions. We find it disconcerting that existing and limited "self analysis" has assumed that neuropsychological dysfunction is immune to the same variables that affect psychological dysfunction. Some attention has been paid to the most obvious ones, such as age, but all others have been ignored and/ or misunderstood. This neglect has spawned a body of knowledge replete with questionable data and unfounded conclusions. Hence, it is surprising that clinical neuropsychologists consider themselves to be more scientifically sound than their regular clinical counterparts.

It is a privilege to be asked to write the foreword for so excellent a book, so timely and so much needed by the field. Not only is it most unusual these days to have a single authored volume on so broad a topic, but Dr. La Rue has done a superb job of providing both a scholarly treatise and a practical handbook. With a burgeoning elderly population and the corresponding increase in geriatric psychopathology, the needs of mental health services are exceeding by far the supply of appropriate providers. In an effort to meet this need, psychiatry, medicine, neurology, pharmacology, psychology, nursing, and social work have all made the provision of training in geriatrics and gerontology a high priority-but I fear we are losing the race. For example, multidisciplinary teams that assess, diagnose, and treat mental health disorders in elderly patients are incomplete without clinical psychologists and neuropsy chologists, and yet there is barely a handful of clinical psychologists trained in dealing with geriatric patients. We can count on our fingers the additional ones graduated each year. In hospitals, clinics, and private practices across the country, otherwise skilled psychologists are unprepared to respond to the special mental health needs of the elderly. A few CME programs are helping to address this need, but they are clearly not enough.

Offers information to guide clinical practice and promote the application of effective and evidence-based rehabilitation services to older adults. This book identifies practice issues and recommendations that are germane to clinicians worldwide.

When Handbook of Normative Data for Neuropsychological Assessment was published in 1999, it was the first book to provide neuropsychologists with summaries and critiques of normative data for neuropsychological tests. The Second Edition, which has been revised and updated throughout, presents data for 26 commonly used neuropsychological tests, including: Trailmaking, Color Trails, Stroop Color Word Interference, Auditory Consonant Trigrams, Paced Auditory Serial Addition, Ruff 2 and 7, Digital Vigilance, Boston Naming, Verbal Fluency, Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure, Hooper Visual Fluency, Design Fluency, Tactual Performance, Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised, Rey Auditory-Verbal learning, Hopkins Verbal learning, WHO/UCLA Auditory Verbal Learning, Benton Visual Retention, Finger Tapping, Grip Strength (Dynamometer), Grooved Pegboard, Category, and Wisconsin Card Sorting tests. In addition, California Verbal learning (CVLT and CVLT-II), CERAD ListLearning, and selective Reminding Tests, as well as the newest version of the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS-III and WMS-IIIA), are reviewed. Locator tables throughout the book guide the reader to the sets of normative data that are best suited to each individual case, depending on the demographic characteristics of the patient, and highlight the advantages associated with using data for comparative purposes. Those using the book have the option of reading the authors' critical review of the normative data for a particular test, or simply turning to the appropriate data locator table for a quick reference to the relevant data tables in the Appendices. The Second Edition includes reviews of 15 new tests. The way the data are presented has been changed to make the book easier to use. Meta-analytic tables of predicted values for different ages (and education, where relevant) are included for nine tests that have a sufficient number of homogeneous datasets. No other reference offers such an effective framework for the critical evaluation of normative data for neuropsychological tests. Like the first edition, the new edition will be welcomed by practitioners, researchers, teachers, and graduate students as a unique and valuable contribution to the practice of neuropsychology.

This handbook provides an in-depth overview of Clinical Neuropsychology, focusing on the assessment, diagnosis and rehabilitation of cognitive disorders.

At least half of all neuropsychological assessments are performed on elderly persons, but the information clinicians need to make appropriate judgment calls is widely scattered. Several books offering general descriptions of the cognitive functioning of the aged or of neuropsychological conditions affecting them are helpful to practitioners but do not provide reliable and valid normative information. Two books that do provide this information do not focus on geriatric populations. A concise, yet comprehensive summary of what we now know about those over 65--with an extensive bibliography--An Assessment Guide to Geriatric Neuropsychology fills the gap. The neuropsychological assessment of elderly persons involves not only the performance-based measurement of various capacities but heavy reliance on reports from caregivers (both formal and informal) about the day to day functioning of the affected person. It also raises important, yet often neglected, ethical concerns. The authors discuss all the measures that detect and discriminate among cognitive disorders of elderly persons, including special measures relevant to caregiver reports, and provide useful tables to assist in differential diagnosis. They also reflect on the ethical issues that often confront the assessor of an elderly individual: informed consent, confidentiality, the right of bodily autonomy and self-determination, and appropriate feedback. This book will be an invaluable resource for all those called on to evaluate older clients.

The Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, Seventh Edition, provides a basic reference source on the behavioral processes of aging for researchers, graduate students, and professionals. It also provides perspectives on the behavioral science of aging for researchers and professionals from other disciplines. The book is organized into four parts. Part 1 reviews key methodological and analytical issues in aging research. It examines some of the major historical influences that might provide explanatory mechanisms for a better understanding of cohort and period differences in psychological aging processes. Part 2 includes chapters that discuss the basics and nuances of executive function; the history of the morphometric research on normal brain aging; and the neural changes that occur in the brain with aging. Part 3 deals with the social and health aspects of aging. It covers the beliefs that individuals have about how much they can control various outcomes in their life; the impact of stress on health and aging; and the interrelationships between health disparities, social class, and aging. Part 4 discusses the emotional aspects of aging; family caregiving; and mental disorders and legal capacities in older adults. - Contains all the main areas of psychological gerontological research in one volume - Entire section on neuroscience and aging - Begins with a section on theory and methods - Edited by one of the father of gerontology (Schaie) and contributors represent top scholars in gerontology