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Neuropsychological assessment of attention and executive functioning

from Psychology, health and illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2014

By
Melissa Lamar  and
Amir Raz
Edited by
Susan Ayers ,
Andrew Baum ,
Chris McManus ,
Stanton Newman ,
Kenneth Wallston ,
John Weinman  and
Robert West
Melissa Lamar
Affiliation:
King's College London
Amir Raz
Affiliation:
Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute
Susan Ayers
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
Andrew Baum
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Chris McManus
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital Medical School
Stanton Newman
Affiliation:
University College and Middlesex School of Medicine
Kenneth Wallston
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
John Weinman
Affiliation:
United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas's
Robert West
Affiliation:
St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London
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Summary

This chapter describes the cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychological assessment of attention and executive functioning. Each cognitive construct is defined within a theoretical framework. Additional information highlights the neuroanatomical and neurochemical underpinnings of specific aspects of attention and executive functioning. Adequate assessment of attention and executive functioning requires at least a basic knowledge of these features in order to choose the neuropsychological test measures best suited for a particular patient or clinical population.

Attention

Attention is one of the oldest issues in cognitive neuropsychology; its role in assessment is equally as historic and remains integral to the successful evaluation of a presenting patient. Attention is the process of selecting for active processing specific aspects of the physical environment (e.g. objects) or ideas stored in memory (Raz, 2004). Originally, attention was thought of as a unitary concept akin to a filter (Broadbent, 1958) or a spotlight (Shalev & Algom, 2000). More recent theories suggest that attention is a system of disparate networks including alerting, orienting and selection (Fan et al., 2002).

Alerting involves particular changes in the internal state of an individual in preparation for perceiving a stimulus otherwise thought of as vigilance. Alerting is critical for optimal performance in tasks involving higher cognitive functions. With the use of neuroimaging technologies, alerting has been associated with the frontal and parietal regions of the right hemisphere. Lesions within these regions will reduce the ability to maintain the alert state.

Type
Chapter
Information
Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine , pp. 290 - 294
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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