Neuropsychology: What’s That All About? What is It? When Should You Go? Who is It For? Who Does It?

Lately, I’ve been asked frequently about neuropsychology. I try to keep as many people as possible informed about my field, especially through my Instagram @neurosabagh. However, even on my account, I get asked, so I believe this blog is the perfect opportunity to tell you a bit more and better about this fascinating area that I’m passionate about.

Personally, I love my unique mix of being a neuropsychologist who had the privilege of earning a Ph.D. in Applied Cognitive Neuroscience. I know that few people get this great opportunity, which makes me feel grateful, pleased, and has given a completely different touch to my work.

Starting with what neuropsychology is, and then talking about neuroscience, I can tell you that neuropsychology is a field that studies the brain. But the most interesting part is not just that it studies the brain, because while it’s true that we need to know and understand the anatomy and functioning of the brain as an organ, the most captivating part is that we are clinicians who can “see” the brain from a functioning perspective! Now you may ask, what does that mean? It means that we neuropsychologists have the ability to relate a person’s life history with the results of a series of tests we administer. With this, we can gather information about the person’s overall cognitive capacity, attention span, memory, communication and language skills, adaptability, and functioning in their environment, ability to organize, plan, achieve goals, their personality, their way of relating to others, and many other characteristics.

Even more wonderful is that neuropsychology studies both healthy individuals and those with disorders or problems. This is very important because, for those of us who work in clinical settings with patients, it allows us to have benchmarks across all ages to create a profile of the person we are treating.

I think it’s important to clarify that, while I would love to say that all neuropsychologists can do this, it’s not entirely true. This is because some people study neuropsychology for children and adolescents and, for example, do not have knowledge of working with adults or vice versa.

Again, I can say I am fortunate because, on the one hand, I studied neuropsychology for all ages, and later, life placed me in my first neuropsychology job at 24 years old in a clinic where I had the opportunity to work with infants, children, adolescents, young adults, and seniors. I have built extensive experience handling cases from infants as young as 18 months to elderly adults over 90 years old. Similarly, I have dedicated myself to training my Neurosabagh team to manage patients of all ages; however, I think it’s crucial to add that I love reviewing each case we see at work to ensure that the clinical perspective is complete and as ideal as possible.

Another point I wanted to expand on is who neuropsychologists can help and what difficulties they can address. In my practice, parents may come with their little ones because, for example, they haven’t developed language skills yet, exhibit different behaviors like lining up objects, don’t respond when called, or cry a lot and don’t want to interact with other children at daycare. Parents might also come with their children reporting difficulties with learning to read, write, or do math, or that their child learns well but can’t stay seated during class, or that teachers frequently complain about disruptions. Similarly, a young adult who hit their head, had an accident, started having seizures, got COVID, or experienced an event that changed their abilities and behavior might come to see me. For adults and seniors aged 38 to over 90, it is more common for them to report issues like decreased concentration, memory problems, needing to write things down to remember, or they might come because of an event like a stroke (ischemia, hemorrhage) or a diagnosis like Parkinson’s disease and the associated changes.

Now, regarding how neuroscience has given me that special touch. Neuroscience has become prominent thanks to the technological advancements that have allowed us to understand the human brain in greater detail. Cognitive neuroscience studies the biological, anatomical, chemical, and network interactions of the brain concerning cognition, personality, behavior in the environment, social interactions, etc. This more detailed knowledge of the brain, along with my avid reading of neuroscientific findings on Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity/Impulsivity Disorder, Alzheimer’s Type Dementia, Vascular Dementia, Parkinson’s Disease, and Dementia, among others, keeps me fully updated on the latest developments in this exciting field.

I think that’s all for today, but I hope to resume this blog more frequently and provide you with information with the love, dedication, and care that characterize me.

A hug to all my dear Neuronauts,

Thank you for reading, and let’s keep learning together!

Written by:

Dr. Sigem Sabagh S.

Ph.D. in Applied Cognitive Neuroscience.

Master in Neuropsychology.

@neurosabagh