Meaning & use
neuropsychological
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivebefore a nountechnicalmedical
Relating to how the brain and nervous system affect thinking, memory, emotions and behavior.
Grammar: Usually placed before a noun: a neuropsychological test, not a test that is neuropsychological.
Patterns
- neuropsychological assessment
- neuropsychological effects of something
The clinic ran a full neuropsychological assessment to check her memory after the accident.
Researchers studied the neuropsychological effects of long-term sleep loss.
He works in a neuropsychological unit that treats patients recovering from strokes.
Common combinations
- neuropsychological assessment
- A neuropsychological assessment can take several hours.
- neuropsychological test
- The neuropsychological test measured attention and recall.
- neuropsychological disorder
- The condition is classed as a neuropsychological disorder.
- neuropsychological deficit
- Damage to the frontal lobe can cause a neuropsychological deficit.
- neuropsychological research
- Neuropsychological research has changed how we understand memory.
Synonyms and how they differ
- neurological
- Neurological refers to the nervous system itself, while neuropsychological focuses on how it shapes mental abilities and behavior.
- cognitive
- Cognitive concerns thinking processes in general and does not require a link to the brain's physical state.
- psychological
- Psychological is wider and covers the mind and emotions without any specific link to brain structure.
Word family
- neuropsychology noun
- the study of how the brain relates to behavior and thinking
- neuropsychologist noun
- an expert in neuropsychology
- neuropsychologically adverb
- in a way that relates to brain and behavior
Commonly confused: neuropsychological or neurological?
neuropsychological vs neurological
A neurological problem is a physical problem of the nerves or brain, such as epilepsy. Neuropsychological describes how such problems affect thinking and behavior.
Practice
After the head injury, doctors ordered a ___ assessment to measure how it had affected her memory and attention.
Choose one answer.
Neuropsychological links brain function to thinking and behavior, which fits memory testing. The other options relate to unrelated fields.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “neuropsychological”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.