Subcortical Structures and Cognition

Implications for Neuropsychological Assessment

Leonard F Koziol author Deborah Ely Budding author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Published:14th May '10

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Subcortical Structures and Cognition cover

Clinical psychologists and neuropsychologists are traditionally taught that cognition is mediated by the cortex and that subcortical brain regions mediate the coordination of movement. However, this argument can easily be challenged based upon the anatomic organization of the brain. The relationship between the prefrontal cortex/frontal lobes and basal ganglia is characterized by loops from these anterior brain regions to the striatum, the globus pallidus, and the thalamus, and then back to the frontal cortex. There is also a cerebrocerebellar system defined by projections from the cerebral cortex to the pontine nuclei, to the cerebellar cortex and deep cerebellar nuclei, to the red nucleus and then back to thalamus and cerebral cortex, including all regions of the frontal lobes. Therefore, both the cortical-striatal and cortical-cerebellar projections are anatomically defined as re-entrant systems that are obviously in a position to influence not only motor behavior, but also cognition and affect. This represents overwhelming evidence based upon neuroanatomy alone that subcortical regions play a role in cognition. The first half of this book defines the functional neuroanatomy of cortical-subcortical circuitries and establishes that since structure is related to function, what the basal ganglia and cerebellum do for movement they also do for cognition and emotion.

The second half of the book examines neuropsychological assessment. Patients with lesions restricted to the cerebellum and/or basal ganglia have been described as exhibiting a variety of cognitive deficits on neuropsychological tests. Numerous investigations have demonstrated that higher-level cognitive functions such as attention, executive functioning, language, visuospatial processing, and learning and memory are affected by subcortical pathologies. There is also considerable evidence that the basal ganglia and cerebellum play a critical role in the regulation of affect and emotion. These brain regions are an integral part of the brain’s executive system. The ability to apply new methodologies clinically is essential in the evaluation of disorders with subcortical pathology, including various developmental disorders (broadly defined to include learning disorders and certain psychiatric conditions), for the purpose of gaining greater understanding of these conditions and developing appropriate methodologies for treatment.

 

The book is organized around three sources of evidence:

  1. neuroanatomical connections;
  2. patients with various disease processes;
  3. experimental studies, including various imaging techniques.

These three sources of data present...

From the reviews: "Given its broad coverage and the clarity of writing, it should be very valuable for graduate students and in courses. This book opens the door to creativity by inviting neuropsychologists to develop new methodologies of investigations, following the demonstration that the cortico-centric model of cognition is no longer tenable. The authors have made a great job in bringing complex issues into simple and meaningful lines." (M.-U. Manto, The Cerebellum, Published online: 10 September 2009) "Drs. Koziol and Budding have written a highly readable and thought-provoking book that will challenge the reader’s current knowledge and help one to look beneath the surface. It is a must read for … neuropsychologist and should be on the reading list for every neuropsychology graduate student. … It is interesting to ponder … if this text becomes a standard in the neuropsychological training curriculum. … this book will assuredly give the reader a ‘deeper’ understanding of the brain." (William S. MacAllister, The Clinical Neuropsychologist , Issue 1-3, 2009) "This is a fine summary of a great deal of literature on the basal ganglia and cerebellum and of their intimate relationships with the cortical forebrain. ... This book applies a long overdue corrective to a discipline that in some sense has been blinded by the simplistic corticocentric view of brain function. If the book prompts neuropsychologists to read outside their traditionally rather constricted domains (the neuropsychological testing literature) and to more fully explore other domains of neuroscience, it will have performed a double service. I recommend it highly." (Douglas F. Watt, Harvard Medical School, Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 25 (2010) 153–155)

ISBN: 9780387848679

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 1290g

405 pages

2009 ed.