Neuropsychology
At Clinica Heredia & Bautista we are fortunate to have a team of neuropsychologists who have received post-graduate training in Neuropsychology which allows them to carry out a complete neuropsychological evaluation, neuropsychological rehabilitation programs, and neuropsychological stimulation programs.
How can a Neuropsychologist help?
The intervention of a Neuropsychologist can be a great aid for a multitude of cases.
Regarding children, the neuropsychologist will carry out an exhaustive and extensive cognitive assessment of the child allowing them to identify strengths and weaknesses that will allow the child or adolescent to adapt better to curricular activities.
On the other hand, our neuropsychologists can aid and help a patient that has suffered a cardiovascular stroke or acquired brain damage so that they can adapt again to a daily regime with greater ease. This is achieved throughout the rehabilitation of cognitive functions that may have been affected after the cardiovascular stroke or brain injury.
Lastly, those who can also be greatly benefited by the work of our neuropsychologist are seniors. It is during this vital stage of life that our cognitive functions (such as memory or language) start to deteriorate. In these cases, correct cognitive stimulation can help slow down this process, improving the quality of life for these older patients.
How is a session carried out with the Neuropsychologist?
This could vary according to each case. Generally, we carry out some initial sessions where the neuropsychologist will administrate various neuropsychological tests that will allow them to evaluate the current neuropsychological status of the patient and allow them to understand and locate cognitive functions that might require more work as well as the ones that remain intact. Based on the assessment results, the neuropsychologist will propose a customised intervention plan.
When to seek help from a neuropsychologist?
This depends on each case, but the general guidelines are:
- When you believe that your child shows signs of development disorder, attention problems, or problems at school. Normally the school is the one to derive these types of cases to us.
- If you are an adult and have suffered from a brain injury (e.g., cardiovascular stroke) and believe that after the accident you have issues with language, memory, reasoning, planning tasks or believe you have suffered personality changes. Normally your neurologist will derive you to the neuropsychologist.
- If you are a senior and commence to observe that memory is failing or that you are more forgetful than before. If you find it hard to find the correct words or find that you are disorientated easily. If you believe that your cognitive functions are starting to fail, it is a good moment to see a neuropsychologist. Normally, your neurologist or gerontologist will derive you to visit a neuropsychologist.
The Combined works of Physiotherapy and Neuropsychology
The physiotherapists and neuropsychologists have teamed up in order to offer a comprehensive intervention with a multidisciplinary scope. This perspective is especially useful for cases where the person requires an intervention both psychologically and physiotherapeutically.
Examples of the same could be minors with autism spectrum disorder characteristics (ASD), minors with development disorders, or minors with acquired brain damage. The joint works of physiotherapy and neuropsychology can also be extremely helpful in cases that require physical rehabilitation after having suffered a brain injury (such as an ictus or a traffic accident). Other types of patients that can be benefited by our multidisciplinary team are patients that have Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, or movement disorders in general.