Having a Cognitive Assessment with Neuropsychology

What is Clinical Neuropsychology?

Neuropsychology is the study of how the brain works, as well as how it links to behaviours, thoughts, and feelings. Clinical Neuropsychology looks at ways to support people with a neurological condition. These are conditions that relate to the brain and nervous system.

What is a Cognitive Assessment?

A cognitive assessment aims to understand a range of cognitive abilities. These include thinking skills such as memory, concentration, and language. The assessment will involve doing a series of simple puzzle-like tests.

You might find some of the tests easy and some of them hard. You are not expected to finish every item, or to get every answer right.

Why have I been referred to Neuropsychology?

The Neuropsychology outpatient team are skilled in delivering cognitive assessments. These are for people who have, or are thought to have, a neurological injury or illness. These conditions can impact how a person thinks, feels, or behaves. The department includes different psychological professions. These might be neuropsychologists, psychological therapists, clinical, trainee and assistant psychologists.

If you have been referred for a cognitive assessment you may have noticed some differences in your thinking skills. These include changes to skills such as your memory, attention, concentration, and language. We will provide assessments looking into these skills to help inform your care. We can also make some recommendations about future steps.

What will my Cognitive Assessment involve?

You will first meet with a psychologist for an assessment. This will be for you to talk through any changes you have noticed in your thinking skills. We will also use this session to collect some useful background information to inform the assessment.

If possible, it is helpful to bring someone who knows you well to these appointments. This is to get another viewpoint on the current changes you are facing. If you are unable to bring them to your appointment, we might ask if we can contact them.

At a later date, you will then have a number of two hour appointments. These will be to do a series of simple verbal, visual and pen-and-paper tasks. If you wear reading glasses or hearing aids, please have them with you for these sessions.

After all your testing is complete, you will have a feedback appointment with the psychologist. This is to talk through and explain the results of the assessment.

They will work with you to:

• Pinpoint the strengths and difficulties in your thinking skills.
• Recommend some adaptations and strategies.
• Suggest ways other people in your life could support you.

You may have some more short sessions with the service so you can work on these strategies. But this can depend on the results of your assessment. If you are on a surgery pathway, you may have another assessment with us nine to twelve months after your surgery.

More information

Sharing information with psychology

All information you share with a psychological professional will be kept confidential. This means that it will not be shared with anyone outside of the department. The notes made in sessions are kept separate from your other medical notes. Other healthcare professionals will only receive a short summary of this information.

A psychological professional does have a responsibility to share information if they believe you or someone else could be at risk of harm. We would always try to talk with you about this first. All of this can be discussed with you some more at your first appointment if you have any worries.

Where do I go?

Most appointments with Neuropsychology are in-person at Fielding House, St. James’s University Hospital, Leeds. Fielding House is a separate building on the hospital site. It has free parking for patients with permits available at reception.

The building can be found behind Gledhow Wing next to the Trust Headquarters.

Map showing Fielding House location at
St. James’s University Hospital

What if I can’t attend my appointment?

If you need to cancel your appointment, please phone the Clinical Psychology department on telephone number: 0113 206 5897.

It is important to give as much notice as possible. If you do not attend your first session, or cancel two back-to-back sessions, you may be discharged from Neuropsychology.