What Do Cognitive Neuropsychologists Do?

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Neuropsychology Defined

It was during the late nineteenth century that a French physician, Pierre Paul Broca observed that one of his patients was able to thoroughly understand spoken language, but was able to speak only one word, “tan”. His earlier work had concentrated largely on physical aspects of brain dysfunctions, such as cancer pathology and the treatment for aneurism’s, which led him to suspect there was a physical reason for his patient’s disability.

Based on earlier research, which had indicated that the left part of the cerebral cortex stored the ability to speak and understand languages, Broca theorized that his patient had incurred some type of damage to that region. When the patient died, a post mortem confirmed his suspicion.

From Broca’s studies, the field of neuropsychology was born. Neurology is based on the brain’s structure and its connections, while neuropsychology focuses on the mind, its behaviors and how it interacts with the world. Cognitive neuropsychology is closely related to cognitive psychology, but with a difference. Cognitive psychologists study the behaviors and ability to acquire, process and store information in normal, or “unimpaired individuals. Cognitive neuropsychologists study patients who have been affected by trauma or brain injury. Their work also entails studying the deficits caused by developmental disorders or disorders caused by a disability. Both cognitive psychologists and neuropsychologists are involved in the field of research, just from opposite sides of the spectrum.

The Significance of Broca’s Work

Pierre Paul Broca is considered the father of cognitive neuropsychology as it was his work that inspired an interest in aphasia, a condition in which the patient fails to articulate a spoken language or fails to understand. The discovery of a particular region of the brain for storing speech and language is significant in two outstanding ways. Aphasia is common in stroke victims, and can also appear in Alzheimer’s and Pick’s disease, two forms of dementia. Identifying this region has gone a long way in developing therapies that significantly improve this region’s functions.

Perhaps of greater importance is that by isolating this region, cognitive neuropsychologists were than able to begin mapping out other parts of the brain and their functions. The first model, called the connectionist model, was first proposed by Carl Warnicke in 1885 who hypothesized that there were various, inter-connected brain centers. Although his model has been modified over the years, several central regions have since been acknowledged as accurate.

Cognitive Neuropsychologists are Scientists

Cognitive neuropsychology as a field didn’t receive an official start until the 1970’s, when Michael Gazzanega, a neuroscientist, and George Miller, a cognitive psychologist, got together at a dinner for scientists and psychologists. The cognitive neuropsychologist spends a great deal of time researching and conducting empirical studies on patients with cognitive dysfunctions but does not treat the patients or plan interventions.

Cognitive neuropsychologists are often hired by Universities as researchers and professors. Other places of employment generally involve research facilities or pharmaceutical companies. Most laboratories require a Ph.D., but for those who have always wondered how a brain works, it is a fascinating and rewarding field.