Neuropsychology

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The Neuropsychology is an interdisciplinary subspecialty of (clinical) psychology and neuroscience . In a narrower sense, neuropsychology is part of biological psychology that deals with the variation of physiological processes (especially) in the central nervous system and their effects on psychological processes.

Neuropsychology is a relatively young discipline, like scientific psychology as a whole. In practice, she dedicates herself, among other things, to the consequences of traumatic brain injuries or to knowledge gained in animal experiments. The sub-disciplines include, for example, pharmacopsychology , clinical neuropsychology , neuropsychoanalysis and neurochemopsychology .

Methods

From a classical experimental psychological point of view, physiological interventions are regarded as independent variables , the resulting psychological changes are the dependent variables .

The aim of neuropsychology is to describe behavior and experience based on physiological processes (descriptive) and to explain (postdictive). This approach is based on the variations of the nervous system and their representation. TMS ( Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ) or pharmacological substances can be used to study the effects of temporal stimulation or inhibition of certain neuronal areas. Compared to lesions, TMS has the advantage that the same effects can be simulated as with lesions without permanently damaging the nervous system . Drugs can also cause temporary changes in the functions of neuronal systems, but are used more in the field of neurotransmitter research.

In terms of representation, a distinction is made between two methods. The representation on the structural level takes place by means of imaging processes such as CT ( computed tomography ), MRT ( magnetic resonance tomography ), fMRI ( functional magnetic resonance tomography ), SPECT ( single-photon emission computed tomography ) , PET ( positron emission tomography ). The detection of electromagnetic activity is researched using EEG ( electroencephalography ), NIRS or NIR ( near infrared spectroscopy ), EDA ( electrodermal activity ), MEG ( magnetoencephalography ).

Well-known neuropsychologists (selection)

history

The origins of neuropsychology lie in the second half of the 19th century: on the one hand in the developing anatomical, physiological and neurological brain research and on the other hand in the development of experimental psychology . The psychophysics and physiological psychology , especially Hermann von Helmholtz , Gustav Fechner and Wilhelm Wundt , the precursors of modern neuropsychology. The name was first coined in 1913 by the Canadian physiologist, internist and pathologist Sir William Osler at a lecture at the opening of the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

The first interdisciplinary collaboration between doctors, educators and psychologists came about during the First World War , when many young men with brain injuries were to be rehabilitated using the psychotechnology of the time . The hospitals for brain injuries founded during the war were continued after 1918 without further involvement of educators and psychologists. Thereafter there was practically no collaboration between neuroscience and psychology in Germany until the 1980s. With the expulsion of Jewish scientists under National Socialism, with the loss of other areas of experimental psychology, the opportunities for a revival of neuropsychology were also lost.

The development of clinical neuropsychology was promoted after the Second World War , especially in England and the USA in institutions and research programs for war veterans. Since 1950, mainly continental European neurologists and psychiatrists who cared for brain injured persons have sought contact with neuropsychologists from Anglo-Saxon countries. After 1966, the research of the Soviet neuroscientist Alexander Luria became known in Germany. With the establishment of the " Society for Neuropsychology (GNP)" in 1986, neuropsychology established itself as an independent discipline in Germany.

See also

literature

Textbooks

  • S. Gauggel, M. Herrmann: Handbook of Neuro- and Biopsychology. Hogrefe Verlag, Göttingen 2008, ISBN 3-8017-1910-3 .
  • Georg Goldenberg: Neuropsychology. Basics, clinic, rehabilitation. Urban & Fischer Verlag, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-437-21172-2 .
  • Wolfgang Hartje, Klaus Poeck (Ed.): Clinical Neuropsychology. Founded by Klaus Poeck. Thieme, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-13-624506-7 .
  • Hans-Otto Karnath , Peter Thier (Ed.): Neuropsychology. Springer, Heidelberg 2006, ISBN 978-3-540-28448-2 .
  • Bryan Kolb, Ian Whishaw: Neuropsychology. Spectrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg 1996, ISBN 3-8274-0052-X .
  • Johann Lehrner u. a. (Ed.): Clinical Neuropsychology. Basics, diagnostics and rehabilitation. Springer, Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-211-21336-8 .
  • Bruno Preilowski: Neuropsychology: Origin and Goals. In: S. Gauggel, Manfred Herrmann, Manfred (Ed.): Handbook of Neuro- and Biopsychology. Hogrefe Verlaf, Göttingen 2008, ISBN 3-8017-1910-3 .
  • Walter Sturm, Manfred Herrmann, Thomas F. Münte: Textbook of clinical neuropsychology - basics, methods, diagnostics, therapy. 2nd, revised edition. Spektrum-Verlag, Heidelberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-827416124 .
  • Lutz Jäncke : Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience. 2nd Edition. Huber-Hogrefe-Verlag, Bern 2017, ISBN 978-3-456-85004-7 .

Trade journals

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ P. Bruce: On the origin of the term 'neuropsychology'. In: Neuropsychologia . tape 23 , 1985, pp. 813-814 .