Neuropsychology and the Law

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvi

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2. Neuropsychology and Its Applications to the Legal Forum

   • Francis J. Pirozzolo, Janice Funk, Jane Dywan

   Pages 1-23

3. Minor Head Injury and the Post-Concussive Syndrome

   • Nils R. Varney, Janet Smith Shepherd

   Pages 24-38

4. Workers’ Compensation and Clinical Neuropsychological Assessment

   • Antonio E. Puente, James B. Gillespie Jr.

   Pages 39-63

5. Assessing the Neuropsychological Abilities of Children and Adolescents for Personal Injury Litigation

   • Maureen Dennis

   Pages 64-92

6. The Assessment of Competency in the Older Adult

   • Jane Dywan, Gabe J. Maletta, Francis J. Pirozzolo

   Pages 93-134

7. Legal Applications of Electrophysiological Assessments

   • Diana Fishbein, Robert W. Thatcher

   Pages 135-163

8. The Use of Neuroimaging Techniques in Brain Injury

   • Ruben C. Gur, Raquel E. Gur

   Pages 164-185

9. The Problems of Prognosis

   • Bryan D. Fantie, Bryan Kolb

   Pages 186-238

10. Can Competencies be Retrained? A Critical Appraisal of Cognitive Rehabilitation

    • Catherine A. Mateer, Alison Mary Weber

    Pages 239-261

11. Developing Legislation and the Concept of Disability

    • Ronald D. Kaplan

    Pages 262-273

12. Back Matter

    Pages 275-295

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We have had a number of interesting cases come to our attention over the years. The following are illustrative of some of the issues that can emerge at the interface between neuropsychology and the law. The first involved a patient suffering from a debilitating fear of heights. The fear seemed a reasonable consequence of the fact that he had been a passenger on a plane that crashed while attempting take off. Given that many of the passengers and crew died or were seriously injured, this man was quite fortunate. In fact, he could be said to have lived a charmed life. It had been just a year since he had been involved in an industrial accident in which he could have easily died. He came away from that accident with injuries to his legs and a concussion. That accident had also involved him falling from a considerable height so that there was some discussion among clinic staff about how well the patient's circumstances and symptoms fit the diagnostic category of "posttraumatic stress disorder. " Supportive psychotherapy was used as an aid in dealing with his re­ curring memories of the plane crash and systematic desensitization was quite successful in reducing the most disruptive consequences of his fear of heights. However, during the course of treatment, it became apparent that there were a number of problems that had not been addressed.

• ETA
• assessment
• brain
• clinical neuropsychology
• complex
• imaging techniques
• language
• neuropsychology
• personality
• profession
• psychology
• rehabilitation

• Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada

  Jane Dywan

• Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada

  Jane Dywan, Ronald D. Kaplan

• Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals, Psychology Services, McMaster University Medical Center, Hamilton, Canada

  Ronald D. Kaplan

• Department of Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA

  Francis J. Pirozzolo

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