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 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…
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…
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 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…
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 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…
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…
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…
The interpretation of the mental status examination depends on an understanding of behavioral neuroanatomy. As in the rest of neurology, the examination leads to localization, followed by a differential diagnosis…
