Cognitive Neuropsychology and Cognitive Rehabilitation

Originally published in 1994, the previous 15 years had seen significant advances in cognitive analysis of many neuropsychological syndromes. In such analyses, investigators aimed to understand cognitive deficits in terms of impairments to particular processes within a model of normal cognitive performance. In addition, evidence from cognitive impairments could be used to help constrain theories of normal performance. However, at the time cognitive neuropsychological analyses had made little penetration of clinical rehabilitation practice. This situation was beginning to change, though, as in several areas of study, clinical practitioners used cognitive models and cognitive neuropsychological analyses to guide both assessment and rehabilitation. The marrying of cognitive neuropsychology to cognitive rehabilitation offered great promise for producing a principled approach to rehabilitation, tailored to the cognitive deficits in particular patients. This book brings together a series of empirical and review papers dealing with recent attempts to apply cognitive neuropsychology to cognitive rehabilitation. The book is divided into 6 topic areas covering: Visual Object Recognition, Visual Attention, Motor Performance, Spoken Language and Phonological Skills, Written Language, and Memory. Within each topic, there is a review chapter, covering both recent advances in cognitive theory and attempts to apply this to rehabilitation, followed by empirical papers reporting on rehabilitation-related research. There are, additionally, overview chapters covering the general implications of cognitive neuropsychological research for cognitive rehabilitation, and introductions to the chapters within each topic area.

The papers present both a state-of-the-art review and an attempt to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the cognitive neuropsychological approach to cognitive rehabilitation. Papers evaluate the utility of cognitive neuropsychological analyses for both diagnosis and the design of therapy, and they also assess the use of rehabilitation research for testing theories of normal performance. The book was essential reading for all those interested in the application of cognitive neuropsychology to cognitive rehabilitation at the time. Today it can be read in its historical context.