Introduction
Heads___1 hd Mental status testing, or the evaluation of cognition in the clinic and at the bedside, is among the most useful examination techniques in a clinician’s tool bag. It…
Executive Operations and Abilities
Executive operations refer to cognitive processes that underlie goal-directed behavior, and executive attributes refer to decision-making abilities such as abstraction, judgment, and problem solving. They are what a chief executive…
Constructional, Perceptual, and Spatial Abilities
Constructional, perceptual, and spatial abilities are important, interrelated brain functions. This chapter discusses these abilities primarily in the visual modality; however, the principles and concepts apply to auditory and other…
Calculations and Related Functions
The ability to appreciate quantities, understand numbers, and calculate is a cognitive domain in its own right. This domain has a left inferior parietal hub involving the horizontal portion of…
Praxis and Related Cortical Movement Abnormalities
Clinicians have applied the term “praxis,” and its disorder, “apraxia,” to a wide number of conditions involving impaired motor performance. A strict and specific use of the term “apraxia” (or…
Memory and Semantic Knowledge
Memory is the process of encoding, storing, and retrieving information in the brain. There are many aspects of memory. This chapter is concerned with examining the most clinically important aspects…
Arousal, Attention, and Other Fundamental Functions
Fundamental functions, or disturbances of the “sensorium,” are a prerequisite to instrumental functions. They include arousal, basic attention, “mental control,” and psychomotor speed. The multimodal aspect of orientation to time…
Language and Speech
Language is the usual “medium” for communication during mental status assessment. Like fundamental functions, the examiner must assess language early as disturbances can affect the rest of the examination. The…
The Neurobehavioral History and Behavioral Observations
Obtaining a history and observing the patient are the first steps in a comprehensive mental status examination (MSX). Obtaining a history involves a skilled interview, a targeted cognitive history, and…
Overview of the Mental Status Examination
The mental status examination (MSX) employs a cognitive domain approach, examining fundamental aspects, such as arousal and attention, and instrumental aspects, such as language, memory, perception, and executive abilities. The…
