Discussion Board 1:
Case Study: Mr. C. is a 72-year-old retired manager previously in excellent health who has recently suffered a left-hemisphere stroke resulting in a severely limited ability to speak. He is only able to utter a few words at a time with studied effort. His wife says that he is bumping into objects on his left side and appears not to see them very well. His ability to understand speech appears intact. His physician has requested a neuropsychological consult to determine his level of speech impairment and possible visual field neglect.
Discuss the use of tests of sensory-perceptual abilities (Line Bisection Test and the Test of Visual Neglect (to measure visual field neglect), as well as verbal fluency (using the FAS test to determine the rate of spontaneous speech production and Boston Naming Test (a confrontational naming test) to test the ability to recall names of familiar objects ), to measure the impact of the left side stroke affecting Mr. C's. visual-perceptual abilities as well as language production. How would these tests assess possible deficits? Would you administer any further tests? Explain.
Discussion Board 2:
Case Study: Ms. D. is an 84-year-old housewife who sometimes gets lost and has to phone her husband to come pick her up when trying to walk back home by herself from the neighborhood grocery store. During her shopping trips, she also sometimes also forgets to take her list with her and then can't remember all the items she needs to purchase. Mr. D. says that when talking to his wife lately, she frequently repeats herself by asking the same questions. He has brought his wife to your clinic because he is worried about her memory problems.
Discuss the use of a verbal memory test such as the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT), as well as the use of spatial memory test such as the Rey-Osterreith Complex Figure to investigate Ms. D's verbal memory and visual-spatial memory abilities. Also, discuss the benefit of administering the Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test (found in your text on pp. 534-536) to better understand Ms. D's ability to perform everyday household tasks. Are there any other assessments that might provide useful data about the patient's status? Explain.